Crossover High
by HitokiriHERO
Summary: R1.5/IY/SR/FMPXover: When a death threat reaches the Inu gang, they go to Yagami with a cousin and military otaku in tow. Add in the NWC and, well, let's say Murphy's rule is law. Unannounced pairing but very obvious. Ranma-centric, slight AU and OOC.
1. Yakumo's Savior

Chapter 1: Yakumo's Savior

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½, Inuyasha, Full Metal Panic or School Rumble. They belong to their respective authors. (Whew! That was a mouth full)

* * *

Hey All! I'm back with this four way crossover. This will be biggest project I will plan for a little while.

Just so you know I will be using the traditional way Japanese write their names, a.k.a., Surname first, then Given name. The reason for this is to preserve some of the running gags from School Rumble.

Enjoy!

* * *

Upon inspection of the Tendo Dojo, one might perceive it as a traditional dojo with an accompanying traditional Japanese house and one might observe that the only thing out of place was the sign that hung over the entrance way which states the Anything Goes Style of Martial Arts being practiced.

However, as we all know, this place, and especially, the town, is anything BUT normal.

Suppose we take a look at its occupants. At breakfast, we can see that unlike all families (and I use this term, because I have never met a family like this) we have some occupants doing insane acrobatic maneuvers over a small koi pond. Upon closer inspection, we can see the two figures are actually males clothed in fighting gi (the clothes). When we really look close enough, we can see the two figures one Saotome Genma and Ranma.

Suppose we hang around until we hear Kasumi's cry of "Breakfast's Ready!" ring throughout the house. At this point, we can hear two very loud splashes as the Saotome… err… 'Family,' get distracted from their training as they climb out of the small pond. We can also see that there, in place of the men, are a young buxom girl and a very fat panda. Hence, the dreaded curse called Jusenkyo.

Suppose we stay around until we see everyone seated at the table. With the two men back in their normal forms, we can observe, save a troll-like old man, a normal family sitting down to dinner, like a normal, stereotypical family.

Of course, this is where the 'normal, stereotypical' assumptions end.

The moment Kasumi has dished out the rice, three of the occupants at the table start, literally, inhaling the food they can their chopsticks on. The Tendo household had learned to ignore this, but proceed to keep their food away from reaching distance of the men's chopsticks. Then, one man, namely Saotome Genma, steals part of his son's food, whether they be pickles, fish, chicken, beef, octopus balls, pork, lamb, rice, soup, rice balls, okonomiyaki, pork buns, ramen, cookies, sweets or desert, they somehow end up in Genma's possession. This then leads to a consequent fight between the two Saotome males, a more consequent splashing, usually by Ranma and an even more consequent pouring of hot water and gobbling of food.

Suppose we wait until breakfast has finish, where the dishes have been cleared and where things really start to kick up trouble. This usually starts in the form of an appearance of Hibiki Ryoga in his Jusenkyo-cursed form of a little black piglet dubbed 'P-chan' by Tendo Akane, resident martial artist, heir to the Tendo School of Anything Goes Martial Artists and fiancé to one Saotome Ranma.

As always, Ranma is usually the first to discover the little porcine running amok in the house with some sweets strapped to his back, probably for the gifting from Ryoga to Akane, his hopeless crush. If not that, then it would probably be a letter of challenge to Ranma to either 'unveil the fruits of his training' or 'unveil some construction technique he picked up and adapted it to suit his martial arts.' In this case, it is the former.

Of course, the above would only happen under different circumstances, for Ryoga had already resolved his differences with Ranma, so was in his normal form.

Ryoga, in his usual, graceful dignity, smashed his way into the Tendo compound via either walking through a wall or 'Bakusai Tenketsu-ing' the ground or wall, depending on circumstances and where he is at the current time in question. In this case, he smashed his way through the ground. Again, in his, 'usual, graceful' manner, he screamed out his trademark, signature catchphrase.

"RANMA, PREPARE TO DIE!"© Hibiki Ryoga through Takahashi Rumiko. All rights reserved.

Ryoga, having already solved his quarry with Ranma, had nothing to worry about, as Ryoga only meant this as a joke and it was their way of saying that he wanted a friendly spar with him. However, like old times, this would be the cue for the daily Tendo Dojo smashing to begin, as per usual. The subsequent yelling would go as follows.

"SAOTOME RANMA, VILE FIEND, I DEMAND YOU RELEASE THE PIG-TAILED GIRL AND TENDO AKANE FROM YOUR EVIL SORCERY!"

Ah, the bumbling idiot of Furinkan High, self proclaimed Kuno 'Blue Thunder' Tatewaki, though Ranma has thought of more colorful names for the town idiot, the politest of which being, 'Great Blunder.'

"RAN-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAN! I've made some delicious okonomiyaki! Won't you try some?"

Dubbed 'Ran-chan' by 'Ucchan', Kuonji Ukyo is the childhood friend of Ranma Saotome. Engaged by their fathers when they were four, Saotome Genma ran off with the dowry and left the unfortunate girl behind, not bothering to correct Ranma about Ukyo's gender.

From that day forth, for ten years, Ukyo led her life as a boy, dressing like one, acting like one and even binding her breasts to hide her feminine side, swearing revenge against Genma and Ranma.

Genma, she gave her vengeance to. What a shock, however, when she found out that it wasn't Ranma who was at fault when she tried to attack him. Instead, she was on the receiving end of a few well placed compliments which actually led to her believing that Ranma actually wanted to go through with the relationship.

Of course, this is how the shouting would normally go. However, Ukyo has found peace with Ranma and so therefore, she is not part the rat-race to become Ranma's fiancé. Though the other two haven't realized it yet, Ranma has already chosen the winner.

"AIREN! Shampoo made too-too delicious ramen. You come eat, yes?"

The bimbo of Nerima: Shampoo of the Amazon Tribe, who followed Ranma after she was defeated by him while he was in his cursed form. She was bound by honor to follow through with the Kiss of Death she gave to female Ranma, but in an accident, male-Ranma defeats her and she bestows male-Ranma the Kiss of Marriage. After some confusion and some shampoo, aka, the Xi Fa Xiang Gao Shiatsu memory erasing technique being used on Akane to make her forget Ranma, she left for China after she realized that the two were one.

But, the peace was to be short-lived, for she soon reappeared to stake her claim for Ranma, this time, with Cologne, the 300 year old Amazon matriarch making her debut appearance into the Nerima district and settled down by opening a Ramen shop called Nekohanten or Cat Café.

"SHAMPOO, MY SWEET! COME INTO THESE LOVING AR- ARRGH!"

The blind duck known as Mousse, he is well versed in the use of hidden weapons, to the point that he could carry a four ton steel encased explosive without showing so much as a bulge. Shampoo's lifelong friend, he seeks to win her heart but has been thwarted many times, however inadvertently, by Ranma. He usually dons bottle thick glasses to help with his poor sight, but this time, he just ran into a tree.

Of course, form previous, past events, post-Nerima War, Mousse is not a rival of Ranma, anymore: he is a friend, a valuable one, at that.

Thankfully, though, this was not the case: the Amazons had already left Nerima after previous events and Mousse was working at the Ucchan.

"HO HO HO HO HO! Ranma-darling, I'm sure that you would rather dine like a king at my expense!"

Kuno Kodachi, ever sharp as the sword she was named after. She self-declared herself to be Ranma's fiancé, much to the chagrin the other three fiancés. How this came to be, you ask? It involved a man bonking her on the head with a kettle after a failed assassination attempt on Tendo Akane (assassination is a strong word, though, let's say, beating up) and the same man saving her from a fall. Three guesses as to who the man is. And the first two don't count.

"COME INTO THESE LOVING ARMS, TENDO AKANE, PIGTAILED GIRL!"

"RAN-CHAN IS MINE YOU BITCHES!"

"AIREN BELONG TO SHAMPOO!"

"YOU PEASANTS DON'T KNOW ANYTHING OF IT!"

This is, of course, the subsequent cat fight which takes place after the three stake their claim for Ranma in front of each other. However, this morning, Ukyo and Shampoo, Mousse and Ryoga, weren't there, so only the Kuno siblings did battle, which, thankfully, did a lot less damage than normal.

Suppose then Akane appears with a pot of … something which we don't know what it is and ought to have its own column in the periodic table, simply because no one has seen a substance like it.

Suppose Ranma says to Akane that she should throw it away for the good of everyone and he starts insulting her about her cooking.

Suppose that Akane whips her mallet out and slams Ranma into the stratosphere via Akane Air.

What was the point of this analytical analysis of a morning at the Tendo Dojo?

Because this is exactly what happened on one fine spring weekend.

* * *

Tsukamoto Yakumo was, in all respects, like Tendo Kasumi of the Tendo Dojo. There are, however, some very distinct differences.

_I'm hungry, where's my cell phone, Yakumo, I… YAKUMO!_

Tsukamoto Yakumo could read minds, or, more specifically, the minds of those who showed affection towards her. Her older sister, Tsukamoto Tenma, for example.

"Yakumoooo, I'm hungry and where's my cell phone?" she asked in her depressed manner.

She sighed. "Nee-san, I'm pretty sure your cell was in your room and I'm going out to go shopping, so you'll have to wait a bit for lunch."

Ever the obedient housewife like figure, she did all the chores. But she didn't mind, for she dearly cherished her sister.

She went out and walked to the local store. She usually liked to spend her time there, looking for all the food items she needed. But, today, it was not the case, for she had a hungry sister to feed.

Once she had paid for all the food items, she hurried past the Hanai residence, for she could hear the VERY loud thoughts of one Hanai Haruki, class president of 2-C (School Rumble 2-C, not my 2-C), her sister's homeroom. She herself was in 2-F (she's originally in 1-F) and was very grateful for that since she could barely stand Hanai's thoughts.

The rather depressing part of her psychic ability is that she had the ability to detect the thoughts of most of her suitors, meaning she has some rather…colorful insights into the teenage male mind and hindering her social abilities. As such, she rarely hangs around with other boys. Her good looks did not help, either. In fact, she rarely hangs around with other girls, being rather shy herself. In fact, she really only hangs around with a select few.

The first was her sister's group of friends: Suou Mikoto, Hanai's childhood friend, Takano Akira, the club president of the Tea club to which she could finally join after Hanai was banned from, and Sawachika Eri, the child of a mixed marriage, her father being Japanese and her mother, English. Though the last was probably not as much for she was in competition for the only man she hangs out with (not that he knows of either of the girls' feelings).

That man was Harima Kenji, a successful manga artist, who appointed Yakumo, unofficially, to be his manga assistant. In fact, it was he who started Yakumo's love for manga and quickly learnt the terms to describe manga: A fact which actually led to her huge embarrassment when she misinterpreted her group of friends trying to 'yaoify' Hanai Haruki. In this case, however, 'Yaoi' was just simply the name of an author of a UFO book, written in different kanji, for those of you who are unfamiliar with Japanese.

The one friend she hangs around with was Sara Adiemus, an exchange student from England who is a nun-in-training at the local church. One day, when trying to save her cat, Iori, she ran into an aggressive dog. Yakumo was saved by Sara via some unorthodox methods (barking at the dog) and the two became friends ever since.

However, today, she was about to get a dose of déjà vu and a new friend.

* * *

"Ah geez, damn tomboy, all I was doin' was tryin' to help her cooking! She didn' hafta use the mallet that hard!"

Saotome Ranma was less than pleased with his landing place. He was completely unfamiliar with the area he was in and he landed in a garbage CAN, of all places! One with LOTS of GARBAGE WATER!

Thankfully, after a quick dip in a lake and a pouring of hot water from a portable thermostat he kept with him nowadays, he was trying to find the fastest way back to Nerima. After talking to the residents of the local area, he found out he was in Yagami, the prefecture directly south of central Tokyo. He could always take a train home but he didn't have any money, so he would have to go by foot.

He was approaching a bridge, trying to find the fastest way out of town when he heard a scream and he ran off to check it out.

* * *

Tsukamoto Yakumo was never good with dogs. She was absolutely terrified of them.

Of course, she froze up when she ran into one. She was nearly home when a rather violent pit bull ran into her (not sure if they exist in Japan, if you can find a more suitable breed, tell me and I'll put it here).

She was frozen on the spot and she couldn't move. Then she screamed once the dog ran towards her.

_Someone, please, save me._

Her prayers were answered when a red blur leaped in front of her and punched the dog away, who seemed knocked out for the moment. The man turned around and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yes. Thank you, Stranger-san," she said, picking up her bags of groceries.

"My name's Saotome Ranma," he said, assisting her in doing so and he picked up all the bags of groceries without too much strain. He was a martial artist, after all.

"Arigato, Saotome-san," she said politely.

Ranma winced at that. "Call me Ranma. Saotome-san is my father," he said, trying to be respectful.

She nodded and looked behind Ranma and yelled very timidly, "Look out, Ranma-san!"

He turned around saw the dog running at him again and thanks to all the groceries, he couldn't do anything as the dog leaped, bit and held onto his arm.

Ranma was definitely pissed. He had just been booted away from home and now he had been bitten by a DOG. It was time for him to vent some of his anger.

He calmly gave the bags of shopping to Yakumo and he booted the dog into the stratosphere and hopefully, into the next two towns.

"Sorry about that," Ranma said and prepared to take the bags back, but couldn't because Yakumo refused to hand them over.

"Ranma-san, you're bleeding all over your arm. Follow me, I need to clean your arm up," she said. "It's the least I can do to thank you."

Ranma looked at the petite girl and thought, 'Kawaii! Akane could take lessons from her!'

This was seen by Yakumo and she blushed, for previously, she couldn't see his thoughts, though she did wonder who Akane was.

The two walked back in silence to Yakumo's traditional Japanese house. At least Ranma could get used to it: Ranma lived in one.

"Here we are then, Ranma-san," she said. She opened the door and said, "Nee-san, I'm home!" She got no response.

"She must be out with her friends. Come on, Ranma-san, come in and sit down, I'll just get the first-aid kit," she said, pointing Ranma the way.

Ranma took off his shoes and walked in to the living room where it was set up like the Tendo equivalent. He sat down on one of the mats and waited for Yakumo to return with the first-aid kit.

She returned a little while later and started to clean Ranma's wound. As they did so, they formally introduced themselves to each other and they talked about their lives. Ranma's life, Yakumo thought, was very interesting and wondered how Ranma managed to get through it all without suffering the least bit of mind trauma.

Ranma found out that she was a manga assistant to Harima Hario, the artist of whom he was following the storyline. Ranma said it was very interesting and she said she would tell the artist of his opinions. Yakumo wouldn't divulge his identity to anyone as the artist asked she keep his identity a secret and Ranma pried no further for he knew she wouldn't tell anyone.

Whilst the pair was talking in the kitchen (they moved there after realizing that Yakumo needed to start dinner: they had been talking for a while), Tsukamoto Tenma walked into the kitchen and saw the guy and her sister.

_Go, Yakumo! S_he backed out to tell her friends about it.

Once Yakumo had finished dinner, Ranma helped her bring it to the table, since he was the guest and thought he should help. Once the dinner was served, they continued to talk about Ranma's life (It was that long of a story). Tenma then snuck into the kitchen to make some barley tea to try and pass off as Yakumo's. VERY surprisingly, she succeeded (considering her cooking skills were second only to Akane) and walked into the living room.

Ranma and Yakumo were still conversing about Ranma's life, Yakumo trying to make Ranma see his past faults and doing so very successfully: no one could ignore her.

"This is great," Ranma said, shoveling in copious amounts of food. "You're the best chef I know, tied with my fiancé's sister and after my mom."

Yakumo smiled, pleased that Ranma was enjoying her food.

"So, Ranma, I think you should be a bit gentler with your comments. I think Akane was deeply insulted with the words."

Ranma slowed down to talk. "I see. Arigato, Yakumo."

They were halfway through the conversation when Tenma walked in.

"Here we are then, Yakumo's new boyfriend, some of her famous BARLEY TEA!" she said in her bubbly fashion.

Ranma had a mouth full of food at the time. He spat it all out, though thankfully all of it went back into his bowl.

Yakumo shook her hands. "Iie, nee-san, he's just a friend," she said, blushing madly (she's very shy at the mention of a relationship).

But this was said too late as she tripped and the glasses of barley tea went forward, glass and all.

They splattered all over Ranma, activating his curse. Ranma didn't get angry, saying just one thing.

"Quite the little klutz, aren't we," she said in a joking voice.

*WHAM!*

For those of you who don't know, Yakumo is extremely protective of her sister. She has a hidden, innate ability to hurt those that insult her faults. This was still the case.

We can see now that all the food on the table was now on the floor and Ranma was in a position very similar to the one where Ranma had met Akane for the first time after seeing her naked in the bathroom. Yakumo held certain item in the lounge room: more specifically, the lounge room table.

Ranma-chan was crushed underneath the table with a nice lump on her head. Thankfully, Yakumo wasn't as strong as Akane so Ranma wasn't knocked out. That didn't mean to say that it didn't hurt.

"I-Itai," Ranma-chan said. She slowly picked up the table and looked at Yakumo, whose eyes were covered by the bangs on her head.

She then returned to normal and looked at the table in her hands. "Oh, no, Ranma-san, are you all right?"

_Hmm, instinctual martial artist reflex. She must really love her sister._

Ranma-chan nodded and poured some soup over her head, turning him back to normal. All this was seen by Tenma as she tried to comprehend this.

"Y-y-y-y-you," she stuttered.

"It's a curse," Ranma said nicely. "I'll explain."

And so, he explained to Tenma (Yakumo was cleaning the dishes, having heard the story already and believing him on the spot) about the workings of the curse of Jusenkyo and his life story. Tenma made many accusations of him being a monkey, but they stopped after Ranma explained that he had interested prospects to marry one of them after breaking his engagements with at least three of them and that two of them were a little too thick to see the truth. She was also fascinated at Jusenkyo and wanted to go immediately and turn herself into a cat, but Ranma stopped her.

"Believe, me, it isn't worth it," he said hurriedly, for more than one reason. Yakumo came back into the room with some tea and poured some for Ranma, Tenma and herself.

After Ranma had finished explaining his life's story, it was very late and both Yakumo and Tenma insisted he stay for the night since Ranma lived so far away. After hearing of his main, yet least preferred method of travel, they realized it would take more than a mallet whack to send him back since no one they knew had that kind of strength. After being defeated by a curse stronger than Cursed Spring of Ox-riding-a-Yeti-while-holding-a-Crane-and-an-Eel, the curse of the Puppy Dog Eyes, courtesy of Tenma, he relented and found himself in the bathtub. His clothes being dried after what they had been through (Ranma explained that his clothes came from China and they were much easier to wear, considering his curse).

"Ranma-san, your clothes are out here for you," Yakumo said.

"Arigato, Yakumo," he said and he got out of the bath, put a towel on and dried himself off. He walked out and saw his clothes in a neat pile, folded and ready to be put on. He did so and walked out to the hallway and found Yakumo.

"Umm, Ranma-san, your room is down that way, next to mine and across Nee-san's," she said.

"Hai! Arigato, Yakumo!"

He walked down into the room and closed the door behind him. Yakumo went into her room and closed the door behind her, deciding to read that book of hers once more before turning the lights off and going to sleep herself (If you've read or seen School Rumble, you'll know which book I mean. I recommend that you at least watch School Rumble; it's very similar to Ranma ½. Apart from a noticeable lack of monsters, there are some martial arts in it and the wacky jokes and misunderstandings are still there. In other words, it falls under the romantic comedy genre.).

* * *

It was morning when Ranma woke up to the smell of something divine, probably breakfast, he thought. He went downstairs to find Yakumo up and making breakfast and he was not disappointed at the smell of it.

"Yakumo, can I use your backyard for some training?" he asked.

"Hai," she replied.

Ranma walked out to the backyard and started off with a breathing exercise. He then slid into a series of kicks, hitting invisible enemies and went faster and faster. He finished with the 'Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken' attack (Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire) against an invisible Ryoga and he smiled.

"Ranma-san, breakfast's ready!"

"Hai, Yakumo!"

He picked up his towel and walked inside to find Tenma, not normally a morning person, at the table, ready to eat. Yakumo sat down and Ranma followed suit.

"Itadakimasu!" Tenma said and they began to eat.

The meal was going quietly until Yakumo had something for Ranma.

"Umm, Ranma-san?"

"Hai, Yakumo?"

"Here," she said, passing him an envelope. "This is your ticket to get home. Considering how far you live, I thought it might be easier for you to go by train rather than walk back."

Ranma looked at the envelope and said, "Arigato, Yakumo."

Tenma looked at this and said, "Ain't that sweet? You're looking after your boyfriend, Yakumo!"

Ranma choked and spat his food into the bowl again and Yakumo blushed and said, "Nee-san, he is just a friend."

After breakfast, Ranma said goodbye to both the Tsukamoto sisters and he asked that, if they could, they could visit him at the Tendo Dojo in Nerima. He gave them an address.

"Pop in anytime! I'm sure everyone else would like to meet ya!"

Tenma and Yakumo nodded, saying they would visit whenever they could. Ranma nodded and he began to roof hop his way to the station, hoping that they could meet again in the near future.

Just then, the phone rang and Yakumo went to pick it up.

"Moshi moshi?" she said.

"Ah! Imouto-san, I need your help with the manga, I'm falling behind and I need you to help me ink in some pages!"

"Hai, Harima-san. I'll be there right away."

She put the phone down and she went to get changed. She walked out of the house after informing Tenma that she was going to see Sara (Tenma still doesn't know about the manga) and though it was very slight, everyone noticed the extra skip in her step.

(A/N: In case you're wondering, I've placed Yagami Town in the Kanagawa Prefecture, the prefecture directly below Tokyo Central. Also, Nerima is the most North-Eastern Ward in Tokyo, saying that you could call Nerima a suburb or even a city but I think that it is better to call the entire area under one council, like a mayor or someone of similar stature. Yagami is also fictional)

* * *

I finished by first chapter of this story. So how do you like it? Review, please!

This will be on hold as I work on my other story, 'Something Old, Something New.' However, I might write another chapter if I get into writer's block. Two more things I want to say.

1. Read my other story 'The Other World of Rumiko Takahashi' and

2. CLICK THAT GODDAMN REVIEW BUTTON!


	2. A visit in Central Tokyo

Chapter 2: A visit in central Tokyo

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, Ranma ½, Full Metal Panic or School Rumble. They belong to their respective owners. All rights reserved. No infringement is intended.

* * *

Ranma was made his way onto the train station and soon, he was flying back into central Tokyo. He was making good time and was currently sitting in his seat, thinking about the girls he had made friends of.

_They sure were nice, letting stay for the night. Especially Yakumo, she was extremely nice. Except when I felt something weird around my aura; it got past my aura for a few seconds before I sent it away. If I meet her again, I'll ask her about it._

Just then, an announcement was made over the P.A. system.

"This is the attendant speaking. Due to some mechanical difficulties, we must reroute this train to central Tokyo. Please accept our apologies. In one minute precisely, there will be another train coming into central Tokyo to take you to Nerima. Again, please accept our apologies and have a nice day."

Ranma blinked when he heard the announcement.

_Well, may as well visit an old friend. Hope she's not to busy_. As the train pulled into the station, he got out and proceeded to roof hop all the way to his friend's house, much to the surprise of other people at Tokyo station.

(A/N: If they really did that in Japan, there would be a riot. And no, I'm not kidding)

* * *

"SOUSUKE!"

WHAP!

"That hurt, Chidori," said the military freak in a monotonous voice.

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU, NOT TO DO A FRISK SEARCH ON STRANGERS?"

"But, Miss Chidori, they may be concealing explosives," said Sousuke.

The pair was walking with a group of friends they had met up with recently. Said group sweat dropped visibly.

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU? THIS IS TOKYO! THERE ARE NO TERRORISTS IN CENTRAL TOKYO LIKE IN HELMAJISTAN!" (Helmajistan is Sousuke's birthplace, based on Afghanistan)

Higurashi Kagome looked at the scene, all too familiar with the military freak that had been assigned to Chidori Kaname for her protection.

"Hey, don't be too hard on him," she started, sweating even more, "He's hard a rough life and-"

She was cut off by Kaname, her friend and cousin.

"TRUST ME, KAGOME! THIS IS THE ONLY WAY HE'LL LEARN!"

Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango sweat dropped even further as they looked at Sousuke's beating, Kaname, who was delivering the hurt and Kagome's attempts to stop the beating up.

"I think only Nerima can match this, don't cha think?" said Inuyasha.

Miroku and Sango nodded, more than familiar with this type of beating, having seen it too many times with Ranma and Akane a few months earlier.

Soon, Kaname stopped, the blue haired girl panting at Sousuke, who looked like he hadn't been hit with the harisen almost fifty times. Kagome had finally managed to calm Kaname down enough so she wouldn't beat the hell out of Sousuke, but she still gave him the cold shoulder.

The six soon entered the WacDonald's restaurant and ordered their meals and soon, they were seated at the corner at which the gang usually hung out at.

The Inu gang, or at least, the Feudal Era occupants, was taught about the modern era by Tendo Kasumi and Kagome herself, after the war in Nerima and now, after a few months of solidifying their knowledge about this era, were about as tech savvy as the modern, average teenager.

Kaname, as mentioned before, was Kagome's cousin and was in town to visit her. Currently, it was summer holidays and so they had a good amount of time to catch up about their past. Sousuke, being Kaname's bodyguard assigned by Mithril, the anti-terrorist organization, made plans to follow her immediately. Though initially reluctant, she gave in after thinking that she would at least like a travelling companion.

_Though there were better ones I could've selected. _

All six were conversing about what to do when Kagome got a brilliant idea.

"Hey guys, how about we run a movie marathon back at my place?" she said.

"Great idea, Kagome. I'm in," said Inuyasha.

"Chick flick," said Sango.

"Oh, no you don't. I want horror!" said Inuyasha indignantly.

"Fine then, one of each," said Kagome to stop the fighting between Inuyasha and Sango. Inuyasha had been known to make fights turn into brawls over the silliest little things. Once, when the family was watching TV, Inuyasha literally wrestled the remote out from Kagome's, Miroku's and Sango's grip, just to watch a game show which he wanted to see. Then, at another time, he shut Kagome in her room just because she had forgotten to record said show when he had detention. The ground outside her door had taken a week to fix.

They finished their meals quickly and they went to the movie store to pick out some films. They had a spent a lot of time just choosing between the various titles. Some wanted this, the others wanted that and Sousuke wanted a film about the Vietnam War to which the others rejected immediately.

They then left the store with more films than planned, seeing that they couldn't agree on what to borrow. They made their way back to the house in quick time. By now, it was three in the afternoon and it was still a little early to start the movie marathon, so they decided to play some board games until time had passed. At least, that was their intention.

They had got out the board games when there was a knock on the door. Immediately, Sousuke pulled out his gun, but was restrained by Inuyasha.

_About time, too. I've been wanting a rematch._

Kagome went to the door, muttering something under her breath. She opened the door and she found herself face to face with an all too familiar person.

He had muscular arms, dressed in a Chinese red shirt and black pants, his hair done up in a pony tail and he was wearing a huge smile.

"RANMA!" she yelled and leapt in to hug him.

They embraced before letting go of each other. Kagome turned around to see her friends standing there. One wore a devilish smile, two had a slight look of confusion and two were staring at the man with complete curiosity.

"I see you have some new friends, Kagome," he said, looking at the group.

"Ah! Yes, this is my cousin, Chidori Kaname and her friend, Sagara Sousuke. Kaname, Sousuke, this is Saotome Ranma, an old friend of mine."

"Hi! Sorry 'bout this," he said, scratching his head. "I was in the area and I just wanted to visit."

Kagome shook her head. "Ranma, you never come here voluntarily. Let me guess."

"Akane," said the pair simultaneously and laughed.

"Actually, she didn't send me here first. She was probably more agitated than usual and sent me down to Yagami in Kanagawa."

"Wait. You were SENT to KANAGAWA? FROM NERIMA?" asked Kaname.

Ranma sighed. "Another couple of people to explain my life's story to," he whispered, so only Inuyasha heard. He smirked and Ranma glared at him.

"I thought you wanted a rematch. So, bring it," Ranma said, falling into a position which suggested defense.

Inuyasha snickered. "I've wanted to get back at you all this time."

He ran forward to meet Ranma. Inuyasha threw a punch, which was blocked. Ranma slid into a counter attack, which involved him sweeping Inuyasha off his feet, throwing him into the air and doing a series of punches and kicks before Ranma slammed him towards the ground. At the last second, Inuyasha recovered and he landed on his feet.

Ranma was barely winded and Inuyasha was angry at this. He was panting slightly and was infuriated to see Ranma wearing a smug smirk on his face.

"Come on, Inuyasha. You've become weaker. Perhaps you've been neglecting training. You 'n' me were about equal a few months back and now, you can barely beat Ryoga," Ranma said in tone which clearly meant bragging. Inuyasha seethed.

"You bastard. I'll make you wish you never said those words."

"Humph. Ain't this ironic: a dog that's all bark and no bite."

Inuyasha lost it at that. "KISAMA!"

He ran towards Ranma again and this time, he didn't hold back. Ranma sped up just to block Inuyasha's punches, but Inuyasha managed at least three good hits on him.

"Huh, the dog bites back. Seems like I'll have to end this now."

Ranma rushed forward, tripped Inuyasha onto his back and used his signature move.

"KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!"

500 punches lashed and hit Inuyasha precisely where ever they could reach. Inuyasha coughed for a moment before getting up, then falling back down.

"Give it up Inuyasha. You can't win like this," Ranma said, deciding to talk Inuyasha out of fighting before he got seriously hurt.

"Never," he said, being the childish man he was.

Ranma sighed. "Kagome?"

"Fine then. But I'll have a lot of explaining to do afterwards. SIT!"

*WHAM!*

"GOD DAMNIT, KAGOME!"

"Be lucky I asked Kagome to do that. If I wanted to subdue you, I would've done it more painfully," Ranma said before walking into the house.

Kaname and Sousuke were more than surprised at what they had witnessed. Kagome, Sango and Miroku just walked in, dragging their friends back into the house, leaving the unfortunate hanyou in the ground. A few seconds later, said hanyou stood up, the spell having worn off and he walked inside, closing the door behind him.

* * *

The movies lay forgotten on the couch, the rest of the group having decided to listen to each other's stories before turning in. They were, at least, more interesting than the movies they had borrowed. The group had finally finished what they had been doing up until the Shiro saga.

Ranma went through the story, but when 'it' happened, Kagome cried and ran out of the room. (A/N: I'm not spilling the beans. Read it yourself)

Ranma looked at Inuyasha run out after her. He had been afraid of this when they retold the last two years of their lives.

* * *

"Kagome," Inuyasha started. "You know I don't blame you or Ranma for what happened."

"I-I know," she sobbed. "But it still hurts, doing…that…in front of you." She hugged Inuyasha more tightly. "God, I was so scared inside myself that I was going to lose you. I hid it pretty well, but you caught me out."

Inuyasha stood there, letting herself cry her heart out. Eventually, Kagome sobered up.

"Arigato, Inuyasha. I am truly grateful that you are here for me," she said. Inuyasha smiled at her and she left and went to the bathroom. Inuyasha went back downstairs.

He entered the room and found everyone awaiting his return.

"How is she?" asked Kaname.

"She's fine. Give her a few minutes," Inuyasha said.

"Meanwhile, I need to finish our story," Ranma cut in and he proceeded to explain to Kaname and Sousuke what had happened afterwards. Whilst this was going on, Kagome was preparing some iced tea for everyone. Ranma finished the story about what had happened and Kagome walked into the room.

"Hey guys, I - WHOOPS!"

She tripped and the glasses flew forward. Guess who they landed on?

"KAGOMEEEEEEE!" Ranma-chan whined.

"Sorry, Ranma. I have some clothes I was planning to send over to your house, but I hadn't had the time to do so."

"Thank god. Now could you please get me some hot water so I can change back?" Ranma-chan said.

"Sure, Ranma. Whilst the water is boiling, I'll get the clothes," Kagome said.

And so she went to boil some water and retrieve the clothes. Whilst this was happening, Kaname asked if she could look at Ranma properly in his cursed form and she agreed.

"God, your look better than most girls. KAWAII!"

"I'M A GUY!" she burst out indignantly. Everyone had good laugh at that, sans, Sousuke, who had absolutely no idea what the joke was.

"Here, Ranma. And you're staying the night, the trains will have shut down by now," Kagome said. Ranma looked at the clock and realized it was 11:30.

"Great, second night away from the Tendo Dojo. Akane's gonna be steaming when I get back. I'll just call the Dojo to let them know where I'm staying."

He got up to leave the phone. Sousuke also got up to leave.

"Where are you going?"Kaname asked.

"I need to prepare a report about that man. Mithril have him as the no. 1 target on their list and to find people so closely related to him is a rare find for Mithril."

"What do you mean, Sousuke?"

"Mithril just don't kidnap people of the street and interrogate people. And since we are known only to the governments, this is valuable information about his behavior."

He went upstairs to his room to prepare the report.

"So, what do we do for the rest of the evening," asked Inuyasha.

"Movies! I call dibs on the first one!" yelled Sango

"Hey, no fair!"

"Hey, hey, please stop fighting," said Miroku in a sage like way, but was immediately ignored.

* * *

Ranma put the phone down and, sure enough, the Tendo Dojo had gone nuts without him there. His father and Mr. Tendo, he heard in the background, were making accusations about him eloping and Akane was saying something about punishing the hentai for spending the night in a place where there were girls. At least Kasumi was kind enough about letting him stay away from the dojo, but he promised that he would be back tomorrow. Almost typical behavior for the Tendo Dojo with his absence.

As he walked back into the room, he found the rest of the group sitting and watching the film. Ranma backed out, not wanting to watch something that was for girls, but Sango and Kagome pulled in.

"Oh, no you don't. You're watching with us," said Sango.

"All right then, keep you hair on."

The girls let go of Ranma and before either of them could say anything, Ranma yelled, "Saotome Secret Technique! Fast Break!" and he ran off.

"Why that conniving little…" said Sango.

"Don't bother," Kagome said. "Once he's gone, he's nearly impossible to get back."

"Fine," she said and walked back into the room. Kagome followed her.

"Whew, I never thought I would escape that," though Ranma. He turned around and found himself face to face with Sagara Sousuke.

"Hello, there. Ranma was it?" he asked. Ranma nodded.

"I need to ask you some questions in relation to Mr. Higurashi. Would you please answer them for me?" he asked.

"Uh, sure. Why, though?"Ranma asked.

"I need to write a report on the man in question. This intel will be invaluable to Mithril," he said.

Kaname thought that since Ranma and Kagome told her what had happened, she thought it would be best if she told them her life story.

"Okay, then" Ranma said, a little uneasily.

Ranma was up all night until 1pm thanks to all the questions he was asked. Ranma stumbled out of there, looking tired and he went to the guest room he was shown. He went into the room and fell asleep immediately.

He never thought to check for a person there.

* * *

Who is it? You'll find out later. Again, you probably won't find another update for this in a while, since I need to continue finishing T.O.W.O.R.T. Once I have finished with it, I'll turn my attention back to this story.

Review Please!


	3. Back to Nerima

Chapter 3: Back to Nerima

Disclaimer: I don't Ranma ½, Inuyasha, School Rumble or Full Metal Panic. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Jin Kobayashi and Shouji Gatou respectively.

* * *

Morning at the Higurashi Shrine came about, but at this time, most if its occupants were asleep: In particular, one Saotome Ranma. Of course, he never knew he would be getting a very huge shock in the morning.

Inuyasha, strangely enough, now had the common sense to actually fall asleep and wake up like a normal person. He was 'berated' after bursting into Kagome's room at the ungodly hour of four in the morning. Since then, he had the sense to sleep like a normal person, lest he unleash the terror known as Kagome.

It was thanks to such trivialities that Ranma didn't know that he had actually fallen asleep in said girl's bed.

The sun only just risen, but there was enough light for the human eye to make out two figures in the bed. Both had their arms intertwined within each other, hugging each other, for lack of better words. Ranma was nuzzling her in her neck and Kagome had glued herself to his chest.

However, their wake up call was one which they had most certainly not imagined.

"SOUSUKE!" *WHAP*

Both were awake, but didn't move their eyes, wondering who was in their bed. However, they felt strangely content at where they were and felt no desire to move.

Until, that is, Ranma opened his eyes. He felt long hair and his eyes saw a mess of black.

'OH SHIT! WHAT AM I DOING IN KAGOME'S ROOM? SHE IS GONNA KILL ME!'

At the same time, Kagome had also opened her eyes and found the nostalgic red Chinese shirt there.

'What on earth is Ranma doing here?'

Very slowly, they pulled away from each other, blushing madly.

"Ummm…"

Ranma tried to say something, but he could do no better than open and close his mouth like a goldfish. Kagome didn't say anything as she was to speechless to do so.

Ranma had no better ideas than to actually get out of her bed and sit on the chair that was in front of her desk.

"What…happened…Ranma?"

He shook his head. "I remember getting into bed, but I don't remember anything after that. It was one in the morning from last check and I was sure I entered the right room.

She got angry, and started whispering angrily. "You mean you didn't check if this was the right room?"

Ranma also whispered in a heated voice. "Yes! Sagara had me up until one answering questions about…" He cut off there as 'he' was still a touchy topic.

She abated her anger and found herself losing the will to fight the argument. "I see…"

They sat there in silence before Ranma said, "Sorry, Kagome." He got up and left the room.

She stared after him. 'What the heck happened?'

* * *

Elsewhere in the house, Kaname was smashing the brains out of one certain military otaku as he sat there doing nothing.

"HAVE YOU HEARD OF KNOCKING, SOUSUKE?"

"But, Chidori, I thought I heard a gun being loaded-"

"THAT WAS MY SHAMPOO BOTTLE! WHO SAID ANYTHING ABOUT A GUN? I WAS IN THE SHOWER!"

The occupants did nothing as Kaname continued her smackdown on Sousuke. Ranma walked past, his face still red.

"Ohayo, Chidori, Sagara."

Kaname stopped for a moment to turn to Ranma said, "Ohayo, Saotome-kun," before turning the harisen back on Sousuke.

Ranma took no notice as he continued into the bathroom and stripped off his clothing and showered himself, first turning into a girl before turning the hot water on.

After finishing, he lowered himself into the bath tub and allowed his muscles to relax and heal after the tension that morning.

'Man, how could I have screwed up that badly? I mistook my own room for Kagome, of all people. Somehow, I would've preferred it if it were Miroku's bed I wondered into. At least I can beat him up.'

'Uhh, what do I do? How did it come to this?'

Ranma shook his head. 'No, I need to clear things up with her. That's the only thing I can do. Yeah, that's the way to go!'

Ranma stood up as the door opened.

'Oh shit.'

There, standing at the doorway, was Kagome. They stood there, the blood rushing to both their faces.

The silence remained as they stood there for a few moments. When her face blushed brighter than the sun, she turned around and closed the door.

Ranma sat back down in the tub and started to think again.

'I don't think a talk is gonna take care of this one.' He was still blushing deep into the roots of his hair.

* * *

Kagome went back into her room as she still blushed deeply after being given a sneak preview of Ranma's little warrior.

'What was I thinking, Going into the bathroom like that? I should've known he would've gone in there after this morning. I wanted to die, right there and then.'

'Man, I never thought that would happen to me. If it did, I never thought it would be with Ranma. Inuyasha, maybe…'

There was a knock on the door, but she didn't hear it. 'Wow. I never, I mean, he looked – BAD KAGOME, BAD, BAD, BAD! STOP HAVING BAD THOUGHTS ABOUT RANMA!'

She heard the knock, but it faltered. Wondering who it might be, she opened the door and found Ranma standing there. Kagome looked at him, shocked that he was there and blushed. There seemed to be a lot of blood going to people's faces today.

"I said that out loud, didn't I?"

Ranma nodded. "You're lucky I used my aura to block out your voice. I don't think Inuyasha heard anything."

"Hear what?"

Inuyasha stood behind Ranma, curious at what was going on.

"Well?"

Ranma's mind worked furiously. "Well…umm…Kagome wanted some…martial arts lessons!"

Both Kagome and Inuyasha stared at him.

"Uh, yeaaaaaah, Kagome was asking me about wanting some martial arts lessons," said Ranma, scratching his head. He flashed her a look that said, 'Work with me!'

"Yeah, I was asking Ranma about some lessons about martial arts, since now, there's a lot of danger in Tokyo," she said hurriedly.

Inuyasha wasn't buying it. He could literally smell the stench of lying off them. However, he decided to humor them.

"I can protect you, you know," he said. Ranma decided to counter this.

"Not all the time, you know. You might be fast, but who's gonna protect her while you're trying to find her?" said Ranma. Kagome stared at him. He was never known for his intelligence. Except perhaps in martial arts.

"I said-"

"And I said, you won't be there for her 24/7, you know?" interjected Ranma, staring Inuyasha right in the eyes. "You might be there most of the time, but not all of the time. You never know when the time you might not be there is the time she gets into danger. She needs some way to protect herself."

"I-"

"Inuyasha," said Kagome threateningly.

"Fine," said Inuyasha and he walked out of the room.

As soon as the door was shut, Kagome turned on Ranma. "What the hell was that all about, huh? Martial arts lessons, feh!"

Ranma smiled, using is aura to stop the noise from leaving to room "Inuyasha must rubbing off on you."

Kagome just said, "Keh!"

"Definitely rubbing off on you," he said, grinning.

She pouted and said, "Seriously, though martial arts lessons? What the hell are you trying to do to me?"

Ranma looked thoughtfully at her. "Well, it keeps you in shape, you have a way to defend yourself and you can beat up Inuyasha without saying 'sit'."

"I suppose. And, it's a lot easier on him than hitting the ground."

Ranma smiled. "There, you see? Not so bad, now, huh?"

"I'm gonna kill you afterwards. I am gonna be aching all over after training with you."

Ranma grinned. "I am going to enjoy every bit of it." He enjoyed the steamed look on her face before his face became more serious. "Well, I'm sorry about not checking the room before actually coming in."

"Well, I think I can overlook it, this once," she said. "And sorry I walked in on you." She blushed as she was reminded of what he looked like.

Ranma blushed at that. "Liked what you saw?" he teased, though the effect was ruined by the blushing.

She blushed even brighter and said nothing. Ranma laughed and he walked out of the room and down for breakfast.

* * *

Breakfast was a tense affair, to say the very least. Ranma and Kagome were looking like they were trying to avoid each other and Sousuke and Kaname weren't exactly on speaking terms at the moment. Though there was a lot of chatter, there was never a shortage of blushing or anger.

Kaname and Kagome had prepared breakfast that morning and Souta and Shippo were talking about the new manga they had bought.

"I think Black Star is better!" said Souta exuberantly.

"Naw, Death Kid's better!" replied Shippo, snacking on some omelets Kagome made. (Guess the anime/manga reference here. Cookie for the first person who gets it!)

Meanwhile, Sousuke was eating something that looked like from Akane's culinary arsenal, so no one asked about it.

Kaname, Sango and Kagome were having girl talk. (I won't bother writing anything for this. God knows I can't understand the female mind. And yes, I am male)

Ranma and Inuyasha were talking about having a fight after breakfast and though Kagome didn't want them too, Miroku said they should, as it would be beneficial to get some of the anger out of Inuyasha.

Miroku and Sango were flirting with each other and since everyone knew they were going out, they left the pair to their own devices, though the occasional smack was heard. One would think he would've learnt by now.

Kagome and Ranma were clearly trying to avoid each other's eyes and was it was noticed by everyone but Sousuke and Inuyasha, the former, not caring about anything other than Kaname's safety and the latter, being blind as a bat to anyone other than himself. This sent forth a wave of conspiracy theories about Ranma and Kagome having a fling with each other. More than one person made a note to talk with the pair in question after breakfast.

After the dishes had been cleared (Ranma had very good balance and carried all the dishes at once), Ranma and Inuyasha ran outside into the courtyard. Then, after everyone had gathered outside, the pair flew at each other.

At first, it was only the usual exchange of blows at each other. But then Ranma decided to use one of his new attacks.

"Hey, Inuyasha, wanna see one of my new attacks?" yelled Ranma as he used Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken on him.

"Which one, huh?"

"THIS!" Ranma, using his new-found ki manipulation skills, forced his battle aura into one hand and punched at Inuyasha.

"TAKE THIS! GOD'S RIGHTEOUS STRIKE!" (Japanese Translation will come later. Any other suggestions for a new name will be appreciated)

As Ranma's punch connected with Inuyasha, he let all the ki out and forced it into Inuyasha via the punch. The result was Inuyasha flying back and hitting the fence. He slid down it like a snake through grass.

"What was that?" asked Kagome.

"A new attack. I didn't use full power, but it still must've hurt," said Ranma, leaping over to him. Inuyasha wasn't moving, but he wasn't dead, either. Ranma sighed.

"He's knocked out. A few minutes and he'll be fine. A punch of that magnitude would knock normal people out for at least 3 hours."

Sure enough, Inuyasha was starting to come around. He then remembered what happened.

"What the hell happened?" he said in his brash voice.

"I knocked you out. I win by default via KO," said Ranma.

Inuyasha was pretty peeved. "WHAT?"

"Sorry, Inuyasha, but as you were unable to continue the fight, Ranma wins," said Miroku.

"Feh!"

Everyone just ignored the brash boy's sulking at being outwitted in intelligence and out-brawled in fighting.

"Well, if that's everything, I really need to go back to Nerima," said Ranma.

"Well, don't let us keep you," said Kagome exuberantly.

"Alright then," he replied. With that, Ranma closed his eyes and gathered his ki. After a few moments of concentration, he opened his eyes and jumped ever so slightly. This, however, was enough to let him hang in the air for a few seconds and soon, he was levitating in the air.

Needless to say, everyone was gob smacked, including the normally unfazed Sousuke. They watched in sheer awe as Ranma float himself up and over the clouds.

* * *

'Hope that didn't scare them too much,' thought Ranma as he enjoyed the view, flying in a Sesshomaru-like way. 'Well, I'm gonna have a lot of stories to tell everyone.'

As Ranma flew, he made a connection from his first place of residence. 'Wait. I was in Yagami the first time. The new school Ryoga mentioned was called Yagami High. ARGGH! Why didn't I see it before? I am such an idiot.'

Just then, the ward of Nerima came into view and Ranma flew into the Tendo yard without much trouble. However, the moment he landed, Akane ran out to him and tackled him.

This was a step down from the mallet she used to wield. Nevertheless, the force she used was enough to propel an elephant across a football field. Thankfully, Ranma was much stronger than an elephant.

"Where the hell have you been?" she said, crushing him with her arms.

"Urk…Akane, I need…my…ribs…you know," he choked out. He was turning an interesting shade of blue.

"Sorry, Ranma," she said and let go of him. "Seriously, though, where were you?"

"Well, you sent me down to Yagami, but thanks to my 'intelligence', I didn't get to check out the school Ryoga was talking about. Then, after a malfunction in a train, I stopped at Central Tokyo and went to visit Kagome. She's got some new friends as well. Then, after a quick fight with Inuyasha, I flew back here," said Ranma, recounting the last two days.

"Well, at least you're back," she said. "You have a lot of making up to do. You missed out on our date."

"Well, that was your fault. I thought you'd have used those calming techniques. I might be training you, but you did agree to my terms."

She nodded rather sadly. Ranma, though, took her arm and said, "Well, I'm here, ain't I? Let's go out for some lunch." As if on cue, both their stomachs grumbled. The pair looked quite abashed.

"Alright then," said Akane, feeling much more joyous. Both of them ran into the house, past their fathers who were playing shogi.

Ranma and Akane soon left the house, he dressed in his usual slacks, she, in a sunflower dress. They ran down the street, hand in hand and were quickly making their way to the Ucchan, partly because they wanted food, partly because they wanted a chat and partly, for Ranma, to have a fight.

They reached there in record time and saw the Ucchan being flooded with customers. Ukyo and Mousse had really outdone themselves: they were more popular than ever, being the number one restaurant in the area. They could see many people clamoring to get into the restaurant. Ranma and Akane just snuck through the crowd and through the doors which were being held closed by Ryoga. He opened them for a moment to let his friends through before closing them again, much to the anger of most patrons.

Inside, they saw Ukyo, Konatsu, and Mousse trying to get all the ingredients ready for the lunch hour rush. Ranma looked at the group trying to get the place ready and said "You need any help?"

Ukyo looked at him and said gratefully, "Yes, please, that would be wonderful."

"Hey, Ucchan, where do I put these?" asked Rama, holding a huge bag of ramen noodles.

"Just near the stove, next to the bowls," she replied, carrying a huge batter of okonomiyaki.

"Hey, Konatsu, where does this bag of bonito shavings go?" asked Akane.

"Follow Ukyo, they usually go next to the batter," said the transvestite ninja, carrying yakisoba noodles for the okonomiyaki.

It took two minutes to get everything in place, but soon, Ryoga let the doors open and, with the help of Ranma, rushed behind the counter to serve the customers. Ranma and Akane were seated at a desk, waiting for their orders to come out: she, a seafood okonomiyaki, he, two pork okonomiyaki (Ryoga managed to ignore how his friend ate them with gusto), two bowls of ramen and a whole liter of coca-cola to himself.

When their meals arrived, delivered by Konatsu, they began to start eating. As they did so, they talked about what Ranma had done in the last couple of days, barring a few details (No need to mention what they are). However, Ranma managed to spin up a story about Kagome wanting martial arts lessons, and so he would have to teach her with Akane. She was generally steamed, at first, knowing that her personal time with Ranma was being cut into, but she agreed to it. She knew, after some rather heavy guidance by Kasumi, that she was not the only girl in Ranma's life.

After about half an hour, when Ranma had finished eating (his new eating habits had been drilled into him by his mother and Kasumi, despite his huge stomach), Ukyo could finally come over for a chat, as Konatsu could take care of the remaining orders with Mousse.

"Hey Ran-chan," said Ukyo, sitting down next to Akane. She knew their relationship was finally calming down and she did not want to aggravate things any further.

Akane nearly winced when she heard that. However, it was noticed by Ranma, who made a note to talk to her later.

"Hey Ucchan," he replied. "How's business?"

She looked like a cross between absolute happiness and tiredness. "Sales are rocketing. If Nabiki weren't here, sorting out the finances, I would be dead by now. She is a master of numbers."

"Well, thanks to some rather unorthodox methods, I went to Yagami a couple of days ago," said Ranma. "It seemed like a nice place to go to. However, it is a bit of a stretch to be so far away from home just to go to high school."

"Well, remember that no one in Tokyo will take us, simply because of who we are," said Ryoga, walking across as he kept hishand firmly on Ukyo. He didn't want to get lost yet.

After the rollercoaster of a war in the last few months, Ukyo and Ryoga had finally managed to fess up about their own feelings. After Ranma and Akane did their best to nudge them towards each other, they eventually agreed to go on ablind date after their first initial date from which Ranma had spotted them. Since the blind date, they had managed to successfully hit it off with each other.

"Anyway, I thought we could go down to the school and check it out tomorrow," said Ranma. "Of course, we can check out potential shops to open up the new franchise of Ucchan's."

There weren't any complaints to what Ranma had proposed and they agreed to meet at the station.

"Ucchan, can I have another okonomiyaki? My flying has really zapped me, today."

The four all knew about what Ranma's new abilities were and the least they could say was the new Ranma wasfar more fearsome than ever.

Soon, it was time for Ranma and Akane to leave, but not before a small rivalry fight broke out. Ranma and Ryoga were fighting outside in front of the shop and soon, Ranma and Ryoga fought to an agreed stalemate. Ryoga, though, knew Ranma was holding back. However, that was only in ki attacks: In speed, he was beat, but he had the upper hand on strength. He thought that in the other aspects, they were equal.

After the fight, Ranma pulled Ryoga aside for a private talk and after some nodding and a map of instructions ("Give this to Akane," Ranma had said) were given to Ryoga, Ranma left with Akane, sweating, but apparently pleased. He'd been trying to get fights in after using huge amounts of ki like that so he could increase his stamina and endurance.

They soon reached the dojo and despite the sweating, Ranma told Akane to get changed into her gi for some training. She complied, but wondered if Ranma really had any strength left to teach.

She returned and found Ranma sitting there, meditating. She walked in and so she didn't disturb him, and stretched silently.

"Akane," he said.

"Yeah?"

"Think you're ready for the next attack?"

She replied instantly, "Yes."

"Right then. You've learnt Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken before, but you didn't have the strength to keep it up. We're gonna work on your endurance. And it is going to hurt, believe me."

"So, how are you going to do this?"

Ranma opened his eyes and looked at her. "I'm not gonna be teaching you the next attack."

She looked confused. "Who is?"

"Ryoga."

"Why?"

"Because he's the only one who's gone through the training for Bakusai Tenketsu."

Akane remained silent. "You're joking."

Ranma looked her in the eye. "No, I'm not. And, I've talked to him already, and he agrees."

Akane stared at him. "You're nuts."

"Akane, if I was nuts, I would've done this when you weren't ready for it. You'll go off on a training trip with Ryoga tomorrow and I'll be going with Ukyo to Yagami to check out the school and potential shops for Ukyo."

"But-"

"No buts, Akane. You're going, and that's final. I've already okayed it with Mr. Tendo. Now go pack."He pointed towards the door, signaling that this was his final decision.

"But-"

"What did I say, Akane?"

"Hai, sensei."

She trudged away, feeling dejected and sad that she wasn't going to Yagami with Ranma. Instead, she got stuck with Ryoga and Ukyo was going with Ranma.

Ranma looked at her. 'I hope she doesn't take this the wrong way. I need her to come with us tomorrow, but she also needs this training trip. She can go to Yagami when she gets back to Nerima in about a week's time. Oh, shit, I forgot to tell her the trip's for a week.'

"Akane!"

She turned around, feeling hopeful. "Yes, Ranma?"

"The trip's gonna last a week."

A silence followed the statement before Akane replied, "Oh. Okay, Ranma." She walked off and left Ranma behind.

'I hope she understands.'

Well? How was that? Please, review!

* * *

By the way, I have already laid the trail for how the story will progress. Believe it or not, the first and only clue is located in the Epilogue of TOWORT. Start rereading because that clue will be useful later. A clue from me: Tom Marvolo Riddle. The next clue will be located in the next chapter.

Happy Reading!

HitokiriHERO


	4. To Yagami We Shall Go

Chapter 4: To Yagami We Shall Go

Disclaimer: I don't think you caught the title of this website. This site is ! I don't own Ranma ½, Inuyasha, Full Metal Panic or School Rumble. They belong to Rumiko Takahashi, Shinji Gatou and Kobayashi Jin respectively.

Yes, I'm still alive, so I have a two chapter special for you as a way of saying sorry!

* * *

Morning came for the Tendo Dojo, but not everyone was happy with the format for the day. Akane guys remembered that she was going to be dragged to a mountain with her ex-pet whilst her boyfriend was leaving for a distant town with an ex-fiancé. However, she also overlooked the fact that said ex-fiancé had a boyfriend, namely, said ex-pet.

After a rather subdued breakfast (subdued meaning fast, but silent, accompanied with the normal fight), Akane had her pack at the door and was waiting for Ukyo and Ryoga to come. Ranma stood next to her and tried his best to console her.

"Akane, I'm sorry about the fact that I had to trick you, but this trip really is necessary in order for you to progress with the Saotome School of Anything Goes. I can only do this if you learn Bakusai Tenketsu," he said solemnly.

"I know. But couldn't we have done this on another day?" she asked.

Ranma was slightly insulted at the point. "Do you really trust me so little, Akane?" he said with a look of hurt in his eyes.

She was taken aback. "No, Ranma, I trust you."

"Then trust me not to take another girl and leave you," he said. Akane pondered at the point, then nodded, but very slowly.

Ryoga arrived at the Dojo being dragged along by a blushing Ukyo. She was surprised at how his touch enlightened some other parts of her body. She was subdued when they finally arrived at the dojo and missed his touch almost immediately when he let go and stumbled forth and met Ranma with a handshake.

"Hey, buddy," he said, flustered, pulling away from Ukyo the first chance he got. Ranma looked him the fast and nearly laughed out loud when he saw him holding his nose, trying to prevent a nosebleed. Ranma, though, just kept it to a grin.

"Man, you need to go out with her a bit more. It wouldn't do to have you on your wedding night and passing out before you even made it to the bed."

Ryoga took one swipe at him and missed before turning to Akane. "You ready to go?"

She nodded and hefted the backpack onto her back. "How long is this gonna take?"

"Well, I took a little over a weak. Since you're a girl, it might take about two and a half weeks to learn. No offense."

"None taken." She kissed Ranma and waved to Ukyo and before long they saw were watching the back of their packs disappear into the distance.

"Well, since that's taken care of, why don't leave?" asked Ukyo. "We've got a lot of time and more ground to cover. We'll need to take a train."

Ranma nodded. "The last time I went there, it took only a few minutes by Mallet Airs™ and I have no desire to repeat the experience."

"Well, since that's taken care of, why don't we leave?" asked Ukyo. "We've got a lot of time and more ground to cover. We'll need to take a train."

Ranma nodded. "The last time I went there, it took only a few minutes by Mallet Airs™ and I have no desire to repeat the experience." He laughed at his own poor attempt at a joke, and they began roof hopping to the train station.

* * *

Another day dawned on the humble town of Yagami as Tsukamoto Yakumo rose to prepare breakfast and the bentos she and her sister required for lunch at school. She began the day as she normally would: After her shower, she would put on her apron and tie her hair back to start her western crossed traditional style breakfast. She would fry the eggs, get the tsukemono (pickles), simmer the miso soup (this soup is not meant to be boiled) and prepared the bentos. As per her sister's request, she made curry. As a result, she had four boxes out: two for rice, two for curry.

* * *

As Ranma and Ukyo arrived at the train station, Ranma was dazzled by all the modern conveniences that had been installed since he last came here. The Nerima Train Station now had digital screens showing all arriving and departing trains instead of the old flip panel boards. Phones now had video screens for traveling businessmen, and even the chairs and benches were made of new age material. The whole thing was very modernized.

Ukyo glanced around and saw Ranma gawking at all the shiny new equipment. 'Well it looks like Ran-ch… I mean Ranma, will be occupied for a while so…' She decided to go get their tickets. She walked up to the appropriate ticket box and made her request.

As she was walking back with their tickets, she found Ranma staring a hole through one of the new plastic waiting benches. Tentatively, he reached out and prodded it with what to him seemed like an insignificant amount of force. There was a screeching sound and the bench collapsed inward, somewhat like a finger pushing through a plastic sandwich bag. Where he had prodded, it seeming like a small meteorite had made the cave in.

"Psh, they just don't make 'em like they used to." Ranma stood up and shook his head in disappointment. He then joined Ukyo and they set off towards platform nine.

When they reached the aforementioned platform, they took seats on a bench nearby. They discussed the ins and outs, the ups and downs, and the whys and the wherefores of Yagami.

"So Ucchan, what is it you are looking for in your new shop exactly?"

"Well, I was looking for for a place big enough to support the four of us, somewhere there is a lot of publicity, a place with lots of competition…" and so it went on.

When the train pulled into the station, Ranma bent his knees and prepared to jump.

"Ranma," Ukyo called out in shock, "what are you doing?!" Catching himself, Ranma sheepishly stood up and scratched the back of his head nervously.

"Sorry Ucchan, with Pops being so cheap an' all, it just became a force of habit." Ukyo rolled her eyes in frustration with men in general.

'Just another reason to skin that Panda.' She filed it away in her head for another time and gently but firmly pushed Ranma onto the train.

* * *

As she cooked breakfast, her sister sauntered into the living room, looking very drowsy and dressed in her uniform. She was never a morning person.

"Ohayo, Yakumo," said Tenma drowsily.

"Ohayo, Nee-san," she replied. "Breakfast will be ready in ten minutes."

"Hai," she said in the same voice

As Yakumo laid out the dishes, Tenma's mood suddenly cleared up and soon, she was yelling "ITADAKIMASU!"

They ate silently until they finished and Yakumo cleared the dishes away. Tenma grabbed two of the bentos that Yakumo made and left two for her. Without further ado, she yelled, "I'm going, Yakumo!" and ran out the door.

As Yakumo grabbed her own bentos, she heard a knock on the door and she ran to it, holding her bookbag. She opened the door to find a familiar and an unfamiliar face.

"Ano…Ranma-san?"

"Hai. Sorry about coming here this time of day, but me and my friend need instructions to go to Yagami High."

She blinked. "Ano…That's my school."

It was Ranma's turn to blink. "Really? Can you show me the way?"

She nodded and walked of the doorway and locked the door. Soon, Ranma made plans to catch up with Ukyo at lunch after she consulted a local real estate agent about available shops. Ranma and Yakumo went one way, Ukyo, the other.

Ranma and Yakumo walked away in silence, but it wasn't long before Sara Adiemus caught up with the pair.

"Ohayo, Yakumo," she said.

"Ohayo, Sara," she replied. Sara then noticed the man next to her.

"I'm Saotome Ranma," he said. "Sorry bout this." He scratched his head in his trademarked fashion. (If I get any queries about this, the answer is simple: Ranma had never been good with formal introductions. Also, he could be apologizing for the fact he was intruding on her friend's time)

"I'm Sara Adiemus. Nice to meet you," replied the British nun.

"Nice to meet you to," he replied, smiling. He leapt onto the brick wall next to them and stood up there to practice his balance. Sara looked surprised he could leap such a height without much, trouble, but soon saw her friend walking forward, so she followed. Not surprisingly, Ranma followed behind them.

Soon, after a few minutes, they trio reached the school, Ranma still on the fence and the pair talking to each other. However, as they reached the front gate, a black limo pulled up and a butler stepped out. Soon, he went around to the opposite door and opened it for a woman with golden curls and an extremely well built figure.

From Ranma's (and probably yours, too) point of view, the woman seemed to be of British descent, or at least mixed blood. She was about a year older than Yakumo and her friend and was dressed in the same uniform as Yakumo, suggesting that she was a student. She held herself like a princess and held her book bag in front of her. (This part is referring to the girl who stepped out of the limo, not Sara)

She looked once at the pair of first graders and said, "Ohayo gozaimasu." She looked at Ranma and raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment.

"Ohayo gozaimasu," replied the girls, before all three walked into the school. Ranma jumped off the wall and followed Yakumo and soon, the group reached an intersection.

"The office is down there, Ranma-san," she said, pointing to a building that was detached from the school.

"Arigat-"

Ranma didn't get further than that since he sensed someone charging from the entrance to where he was. The look on his face suggested Satan himself would've been scared.

As he looked around, Ranma noticed that only two of the three girls remained. Yakumo had disappeared. Ranma probably took him a suitor of sorts. He would have been correct.

"Ohayo, Sara," he said. Ranma looked at him and found he was probably around the same age as the unknown girl. He had a mushroom bowl cut, wore his uniform impeccably and wore bottle thick glasses which were probably matched by Mousse's glasses, give or take a few degrees of blindness.

"Ohayo, Hanai-san," she replied. "I'm afraid that Yakumo has gone to the faculty building."

"Ah, arigato. Ja!" He ran off as fast as he arrived.

Meanwhile, after seeing him leave, Yakumo stepped out from behind a tree where she had managed to hide.

"Well, ja mata," said the unknown girl as Yakumo stepped out from behind the tree.

"Ja mata, Sawachika-san," said Sara politely. However, the girl barely moved when a motorbike zoomed past them. After realizing who the rider had passed, they turned around and stopped in front of the group.

"Ohayo, Harima-san," said Yakumo, as the rider took of their helmet.

It turned out to be a young man of about seventeen years of age. He wore glasses and had a tan, was dressed in a leather jacket and slacks. His wore a beret underneath, but Ranma soon noticed he was bold.

"Yo, Imouto-san," the man named Harima replied.

However, no words were passed as one dangerously blue aura flared.

"HIGE!"

Harima sighed and turned to face the girl. "What d'you want, Oj-" He got cut off as he suddenly burst out laughing and Ranma also resisted the urge to laugh.

What Harima had closely neglected when he roared past the group suddenly came into full being. The girl named Sawachika was covered in dust, leaves, sticks, rocks and what other natural debris lay around. However, it wasn't that which cracked Harima up.

It was the fact that Sawachika's hair was puffed up like a poodle. Therefore, her locks now resembled something like yellow cotton candy.

Ranma, though, tried to console the girl. "It's not like anything else can go wrong."

(PAUSE! As we all should know, Murphy's law has an exclusivity in the Ranmaverse. What is this law, you may ask? The following: If one should say or think anything along the lines of 'Nothing else should go wrong,' something WILL go wrong. It's just a matter of time. This explains why Ranma changes at the most inopportune times. Therefore, we can only grace the next line upon the small group for the following disasters that are about to happen: Damn you, Murphy)

A sudden flash shower appeared. It just happened to be of consequence that Sawachika was standing OUTSIDE the shade of the trees and so now, the cotton candy hair so much as resembled strips of beef which had gone through the Akane treatment.

'As least it wasn't me,' thought Ranma.

Famous last words. Ergo, Murphy's law.

A pipe from behind Ranma exploded, turning the unfortunate he into a she. As he was also standing partially in the garden bed at the time, she was covered in dirt and flowers and leaves and every other plant in that bed available. Ranma-chan looked at herself and sighed.

'Least I got my thermos,' she thought and pulled it our, opened it up and upended it on herself.

Only to find out that the she remained a she after pouring the water on herself.

"Ah, shit. I guess the thermos cooled after being blasted on with cold water," said Ranma-chan and she put the empty thermos away. She looked up to find everyone's eyes, sans Yakumo, on her.

"Weren't you a guy before?" asked the girl named Sawachika.

"Long story short, I got a curse when I went to China," he replied. "Yakumo, do you know where I can get some hot water?"

She nodded. "Follow me, Ranma-san." She turned and walked off to the faculty building, Ranma-chan in tow. Sara, Harima, and Sawachika stared after them

"Why do I get the feeling that lady fate is toying with us?" asked Sawachika, still miffed at her current state.

No one replied as Harima roared off and Sara walked off to the classrooms. Sawachika walked off out of the gate and called her butler. She wasn't going to school as she looked.

* * *

"Sure, Tsukamoto, but why hot water?" asked Tani-sensei.

"Uh…Ano…"

"Don't worry about it, then," he said and gave her a cup of clear liquid with steam rising from it.

Yakumo had asked Ranma-chan to wait outside. However, she forgot the repercussions of who was here before she came here herself with Ranma.

As a result, Ranma-chan was standing over the man Sara had referred to as Hanai, her chest heaving and looking extremely pissed. And, as well all know, a pissed Ranma-chan makes no exceptions on damage.

The result of her temper meant that 'Hanai' had several severe lacerations, cuts, bruises, broken bones and a pair of normally reinforced, custom-made glasses being smashed beyond repair.

Yakumo sweat-dropped. "Ano, Ranma-san…"

The he turned she looked up. "Ah! Gomen, Yakumo. I don't know my own strength sometimes."

"Iie, don't worry about it," she said, handing 'her' the cup of water and she turned back to get the school nurse.

It was a male Ranma giving the man cursing, evilized (Is this even a word?) looks at the unfortunate mushroom bowl cut man when Yakumo returned with the school nurse.

"Anegasaki-sensei, over here," said Yakumo. The nurse had brought her first-aid kit, but one look at the brutally hurt man nearly made her faint.

"What happened?" she asked, clearly in a panic to stitch up some of the more serious wounds.

"He tried to hit on me and I did this to him," said the male Ranma, not aware of the implications the sentence gave off.

"Oh my! I never knew Hanai-san was like that," she said. Yakumo had to stifle a giggle at that.

"What happened?" she asked Ranma.

"Well…"

_Flashback_

'_I hope she gets back soon,' thought Ranma-chan. 'Hopefully no one sees me.'_

Oh, Ranma, Ranma, Ranma. When will you learn never to tempt fate? Ergo, Murphy's Law again.

_As she thought that, a dejected Hanai walked out of the faculty building, feeling depressed at the fact that he couldn't find Yakumo. As he walked out, he saw possibly the most beautiful woman to walk the earth._

'_Oh, is this a goddess? Was Yakumo just a test of my faith, and fate has rewarded me with this shining goddess?'_

Does anyone think this is WAY too nostalgic? If you don't know what I mean, perhaps someone could point the way out for the poor souls who are clueless about who says words similar to those above from Nerima? Oh, say, a bokken wielding idiot?

Over in Nerima, said bokken wielding idiot sneezed. (Okay, getting a little off track here. Back to the story)

"_My pigtailed GODDESS!" he screamed._

_As soon as Ranma-chan heard this, she screamed and starting beating the crap out of him._

"_WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE, KUNO?"_

_The biggest flaw here, of course, is that she is not beating up said bokken wielding idiot: She is beating up and poor (at least when compared to the NWC) martial artist._

_End Flashback_

"…and so, here we are," finished Ranma, somewhat lamely.

Yakumo and Anegasaki-sensei sweat dropped.

"I know you mean well and all, but couldn't you have used some restraint?" asked the nurse as she tended to his wounds.

"If you knew the guy I was thinking of, you'd wanna beat the crap outta him," he responded.

"Ano…Ranma-san, shouldn't you register yourself into Yagami High?" asked Yakumo.

"I guess I better do. Ja, Yakumo." He bounced off into the main building.

* * *

Kuonji Ukyo was walking to the nearest real estate agency she could find to look up some potential shops that she could use for her own franchise when a man with a kappa costume walked passed her.

'What the heck was that?' she thought, looking at the man from behind him. He looked like he was wearing a school uniform, holding a huge leaf over his head and had a shell strapped to his back.

'Why on earth is he wearing that for?' she thought to herself.

Moments later, a flash shower unleashed it's payload on the city and soon, the strange kappa dude took off his strange clothing and put it away into his book bag, save the huge tortoise shell, which he tucked under his arm.

The boy had a mushroom bowl cut, black hair and had poker face on. His huge, black eyes were wide and unblinking. He seemed to be of slightly muscular build, but otherwise, he seemed like a normal person.

Stopping only to glance at her, he turned back and walked on, despite having Ukyo's stare at him.

Ukyo herself was drenched with water. The flash shower had done a number on her hair it was sticking up in frilly way. She cursed and continued to walk onwards to the real estate agent.

She was so entranced in her thoughts that she passed a huge red building which should have looked familiar to her.

"So, you say you're from Furinkan High?" asked the secretary.

"Hai," said Ranma respectfully.

'Well, it can't get any worse. I'll just stick 'em into 2-C if they pass,' she thought. "You say you want to register three others, right?"

"Hai," he replied.

"Well, I'll have one of the teachers give you the entrance test and you'll know if you made it through by the end of the day," she replied and pulled out a form. "Meanwhile, please fill in this form for personal details."

She walked out of the room, handing Ranma a clipboard and pen as she left. Ranma soon took to filling in the form and he was done by the time she returned.

"Are there any questions?" she asked as she took the clipboard back.

"Can I have more forms for my friends? I'll give them back to you once they're filled out," said Ranma.

"Sure," she said and gave him three more. She then walked out of the room. "Follow me, please. I'll take you to your new homeroom teacher if you pass."

Ranma followed her out of the room, his ki senses on full alert to see what was in the school. He sensed mainly students, but there seemed to be a rowdy aura coming from one of the rooms, but he dismissed it.

She followed the secretary into the staff room, passing a young teacher with purple hair, a very good reminder of Shampoo. He regarded her with caution and made a mental note not to cross her. 'With all too good reason, too, if she's anything like Shampoo,' thought Ranma.

He passed a man dressed impeccably in a green suit. He had pronounced cheekbones and looked like a vampire, considering his pale skin. His hair, dark brown, was combed in precise perfection, to the point it was almost abnormal. His posture was that of unrelenting authority. 'Better not cross him,' thought Ranma.

They finally reached the desk of a young teacher, about mid 30's. He was dressed more casually than most teachers, but he seemed a lot weaker than others. He was dressed in a white business shirt, tucked into brown pants, wore glasses and had light brown hair. Overall, this man seemed a lot friendlier than other teachers.

"This is Tani-sensei," she said. "Homeroom teacher of 2-C."

He looked at Ranma with a very scrutinizing look. Finally, he said, "May I have your name?"

"Saotome Ranma."

"I see. I've heard a lot about you from Ninomiya. She asked me to keep tabs on you if you came here."

Ranma's eyes boggled. "You know Hinako-sensei?" he asked incredulously.

He nodded. "I did my teaching degree with her. Childishly delightful, but a bit of a handful at times."

'You don't the half of it,' he thought.

"Well, it's time for you to do your entrance test. If you'll follow me, I can lead you to a quiet place for you to sit the test."

Ranma followed him to an unused classroom and soon, he was sat down a table, given a pen and five booklets, each entitled with a different heading.

"You'll have three hours to do all the tests. That should take you to lunch, then you can explore the school after that. I'll have your result by the end of the day. Good luck."

He left the classroom and left Ranma alone, locking the door behind him. Without further ado, Ranma opened the first booklet.

"Is everything in place?"

A man in a room, completely blacked out, except for computer screens, commanded his team of coordinators to do his bidding.

"Yes sir," replied one. "On your signal, sir."

"Do it. Now."

"Yes sir!" He pushed the button.

Nothing scared Sagara Sousuke. Not even when faced with seemingly impossible odds, did he feel fear.

It was a signal which had emitted from his PDA which scared him. It was playing bagpipe music.

It was then that Sousuke froze. He never heard that tone, unless the orders were urgent. He had calibrated his cellphone to play songs at different speeds, depending on urgency. And judging from the speed with was playing, it was extremely urgent.

He was sitting in the living room with Kaname, Kagome, Miroku and Sango when the theme played off. Everyone stared at him, ignoring the movie which was currently playing.

Sousuke took out his cellphone, shaking. He flipped it open and read the message. What he read drained all the blood from his face.

"Kaname?" He asked the girl the girl tentatively. She was known to be a bomb at times.

"What is it, Sousuke?" she asked carefully. She had never seen the sergeant so pale.

"Pack your things and be ready to leave in 15 minutes. All of you. We can't come back here until further notice," he said. "The only information is that an assassin is coming. We're all in danger here."

The temperature dropped nearly 50 degrees. And that's not Fahrenheit, either. That was Celsius.

"What?"

"Pack your things. Mithril are planting false trails as we speak. They already have a safe house for all of us. Pack your things," he said, repeating the last part. He got up and prepared to pack his things.

"Wait, Sousuke," Kaname said. "Do you even have anymore information?"

"Leonard Testarossa," he said. "He's the one after you."

"Wait a second, Sousuke! You expect me to leave my family AND friends because of an assassin coming after my cousin?" yelled Kagome.

"Yes," he said, before leaving.

"Now, wait just a MINUTE! How do you expect my family and friends to survive this assassin, eh?" yelled Kagome.

"As with standard Mithril procedure, your friends and family will be evacuated at a later date," he said stoically.

Soon enough, despite the sketchy details and a hastily scribbled note from Kagome (which was destroyed by Sousuke when she wasn't looking) the group had their possessions in their carry bags (Kagome had hidden her friends' feudal weapons in her big yellow bag, after having Ranma modify her bag: he simply inserted ki into the bag and made it into something that could shrink the contents, similar to what Merlin had) and were on the fastest train out of central Tokyo.

As the countryside rushed by, Kaname silently pondered a sense of déjà vu, but couldn't put the experience in her head.

* * *

As Ranma finished the tests, Tani-sensei walked back into the classroom.

"Time's up," he said. Ranma put down the pen and looked relieved. His forehead was covered in a layer of sweat after racking his brain to come up with all the right formulas for subject X and meanings of certain words in subject Y.

"I'll have the results for you by the time the school day is out. Until then, you can explore the school." He walked out, taking the papers and pen with him.

Ranma left the room and walked into the corridors, trying to find the cafeteria in the school. However, despite his efforts, Ranma could not locate said food supplier. Later, at an unknown point in time, he would learn that there is no such thing in the school and would vent his anger out at a poor light post.

The light post did not survive.

He meandered about the school, until he found a familiar face.

'Hey, isn't that Yakumo's older sister?' he thought. He grabbed the door and he was met with an overwhelming aura.

Ranma remembered back to earlier in the day when he detected the chaotic aura he found lurking in the school.

'Oh shit.'

Ranma had just entered the hell known as 2-C.


	5. A 2C Welcome

Chapter 5: A 2-C Welcome

Disclaimer: I don't Ranma ½, Inuyasha, School Rumble or Full Metal Panic. They are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, Kobayashi Jin and Shinji Gatou.

This chapter and the last chapter was partly co-authored by my BETA, YuriFan5, so a big round of applause to him for doing so!

Enjoy!

* * *

Heads swiveled as the one barrier between the madness that was 2-C and the rest of the world slid back, allowing another lost soul to enter. A certain spunky second year's pigtails perked up. "Ranma-san," she called out, waving him over, "Kochi kochi!"

'She must be nuts,' Ranma screamed to himself, 'she's surrounded by violent auras!' None the less, Ranma was drawn towards her desk and was forced to sit through all of her introductions.

Somewhere in a far off realm we mortals cannot even prepare to comprehend, the Kami of Chaos sat at his desk watching his Avatar's life unfold. As things go, his life had been relatively peaceful as of late, and that just would not do.

He chuckled to himself and waved his hand, causing his keyboard and its accompanying screen to appear. He typed in a few lines of code and hit the 'execute' button, giggling with glee like a kid during Christmas at the chaos that was about to unfold.

"You have already met Harima-kun," said Tenma, with just a hint of a suspicious glare towards the boy. Said boy was occupied with glaring at a certain blond haired girl. "You met Sawachika-san this morning," she gestured towards the girl glaring back at Harima. "Then there are Imadori Kyousuke and his girlfriend, Ichijou Karen (that's just Tenma's imagination running wild, the truth is that Ichijou has a crush on Imadori). It went on and on it went until Ranma was practically falling asleep, though not without resistance. Thankfully, he was saved by a most unlikely person.

A meek call of "A-ano… nee-san, you took all the rice again so I-" came from the door, and everyone once again swiveled to see Tsukamoto Yakumo standing in the doorway. Hanai dashed over to greet her, getting ready to shove his foot in his mouth, incidentally cutting her off. Ranma noted in passing that he managed to get out of the hospital with surprising haste and only had an arm sling. Few things seemed to surprise him these days: after all, he lived in Nerima.

"Oh Tsukamoto," he waxed, "please grace this lowly class that are full of women less beautiful than you with your divine presence."

An outraged cry of "WHAT!" rang out through the classroom as many chairs were pushed back as many outraged women, and several outraged boyfriends of said women(plus Harima) jumped him and proceeded to deliver heaven's judgment upon Hanai. Cries of "How dare you!" and "Enemy of women" came from the dust cloud surrounding Hanai. Harima's voice mixed in with these cries as an interspersed "How dare you call Tsukamoto that!" This of course was interpreted several ways. Both Yakumo and Harima knew that he meant Tsukamoto Tenma when he said that. However, with the exception of one clueless aqua transsexual, the rest of 2-C thought that he was referring to Yakumo, since it was widespread gossip that Harima and Yakumo were going out.

Whilst the chaos was going on (and the Kami of Chaos giggled like a little child after looking like Christmas, Easter and his birthday had come at once) Ranma, (who was unfazed by everything), grabbed the one of the bentos from Tenma's desk (which was vacated after Tenma leapt into the fray when she realized that Hanai was also insulting her friends), gave it to Yakumo, pushed her out of the room and closed off the barrier to the hellish rampage of 2-C.

* * *

The Kami of Chaos started throwing a fit like a little child who just had its most precious toy taken away. Of course, it soon dissipated when an alert popped up on his screen, and was replaced by a delicious smirk. It may not have been by his design, but it would certainly do.

* * *

However, Ranma never realized he would be going to his grave because of that one action.

* * *

"We have successfully reached our target," said Sousuke, pulling up his rucksack. The others followed suit and they left the train, Sousuke scouting the area for possible hostiles as he did so.

They took a bus to their new home, which was a small mansion which looked like an imitation of the White House. After Sousuke was satisfied with the security measures, he opened the door, the keys having been picked up when he arrived at the station.

As the group awed in wonder of their new home, they heard a rumbling sound outside their new home.

"Quick Chidori, get down, it's a bomb!" Sousuke tackled Chidori to the floor, and while his intentions may have been good, they ended up in a rather uncomfortable position. Chidori was lying on her back, her face beet red as Sousuke supported his upper body with his hand on her chest. Normally this wouldn't have been a problem; however, it was the spot that his hands were placed on that caused the problem. He really did have the purest intentions.

"SOUSUKE!!!!!"*WHAP*

After shaking her head at the scene and successfully restraining Inuyasha from rushing out for some unknown reason, Kagome walked out of the house and onto the street to see what the racket was all about.

Whatever she had been expecting, this wasn't it. She was faced with one of the most peculiar scenes she'd seen in her life. She saw a crowd chasing two people. Or rather, one person, since one was holding the other, bridal style.

As they approached, Kagome made out the figure of the person being chased.

'Ranma?'

* * *

As Ranma walked along the corridor with Yakumo, he asked, "Are they always like that?"

"Uh, not all the time," she said.

"So, most of the time?" he asked. 'My god what did we do to deserve a clone of Furinkan High' thought Ranma. They walked along the corridor and the stairs until they reached 1-F. Yakumo opened the door and she was met with a barrage of thoughts which were either in relation to her or the guy standing next to her.

'Who the heck is he?'

'What is he doing with her? Is that her boyfriend?'

'Aw, they look cute together.'

She ignored these thoughts (or, at least, tried to, as whispers broke out about the pair that just walked in and she blushed heavily at the whispers) and walked to her friend, Sara, whom Ranma had met just this morning.

"Sara, can we eat on the roof today?" she asked. Her friend nodded back and she followed Yakumo out the room, she was used to the madness by now, and had decided she really would rather not know.

Ranma was waiting when he saw Yakumo's face. "Are you alright, Yakumo?" She nodded, despite the fact that her face was red. Her friend giggled lightly and together, they walked in silence to the roof, passing the racket in one of the rooms without a second thought.

They soon sat down on the concrete and ate together, Yakumo giving Ranma her bento, despite the latter's protests. However, that peace was soon to be ousted.

"So, Ranma, where did you come from?" asked the blond foreigner.

"Uh, Nerima. But I have to come here after the local school shut down and no one else in the area would take me," he replied, eating his food at half his normal pace. It was fast, no doubt, but at least he wasn't inhaling the food.

"So, how are you at school?" she asked, trying to make small talk.

"Well, I'm barely keeping up, as it is."

However, at that moment, the door burst open and the rest of 2-C burst open, sans Harima, Tenma, and Karasuma (if you don't know who he is, he was the guy who was wearing the turtle shell).

"Oi! Saotome Ranma! How dare you defile the presence of Yakumo?" shouted Hanai, still running from the group trying to beat him up. He and the group behind him made a beeline for Ranma, Yakumo and Sara. Ranma, recognizing the danger, grabbed the first thing he could and leapt into the air and onto the fence.

He soon realized that the first thing he grabbed was Yakumo. It was only through reflexes that he managed to keep a hold on her in a bridal style.

Hanai, to his horror, saw this scene and he pumped himself full of anger. "HOW DARE YOU TRY AND TAKE TSUKAMOTO LIKE THAT! I WILL PUNISH YOU WITH THE WRATH OF GOD!"

'Gods not another Kuno,' Ranma sighed inwardly, these things just seemed fated to happen around him.

The door behind burst open and Harima stood there, burning with anger. "Who dares defile Tsukamoto?" he said angrily.

Ranma boggled his eyes. 'What the heck is going on?' (You guys must probably be thinking this as well: I'm barely keeping track here as it is)

Ranma, deciding enough was enough, leapt over the fray of 2-C (who was still trying to beat up Hanai, who was currently dodging all attacks), ran past Harima and down the stairs.

* * *

We now find ourselves back at the time where Kagome stood outside her new mansion and was looking at the strangest scene in her life.

'Ranma?'

As Ranma bolted forwards towards her, she could see the person Ranma was holding. Or, more specifically, a young girl of about 15 and blushing very cutely.

"Ranma?" she called. He finally caught on that she was there.

"KAGOME! RUN!"

"But-"

"RUN!"

However, she heeded his words too late and so Ranma had no choice but to grab Kagome and put her on his back whilst holding Yakumo in one arm.

"HENTAI! HOW DARE YOU TAKE ANOTHER WOMAN WHILST YOU HAVE TSUKAMOTO?" screamed Hanai. This only seemed to spur Harima even more as he chased the trio, speeding up his pace. The crowd behind them, still in agitation about what Hanai had pronounced, only pushed themselves harder.

Ranma ran as Kagome talked to him. "What happened?"

"I was having lunch and next thing I knew, I found myself like this," he said, running through the streets. He shrugged, as if this happened to him often, which, judging by what Akane and Ranma had told her, Kagome found this all too close to the realm of possibility.

"Okay. Who's the girl?"

"Talk later, run now," he said, continuing to sprint across town. Kagome decided to make use of the opportunity to inspect the girl in Ranma's arms.

She had black hair, red eyes, and was probably cuter than half the girls chasing her from behind. She had a nice figure, though not well built, but it seemed that she was hardly a good person to have a relationship with, considering her blushing at being held in Ranma's arms. But she couldn't blame her: she used to be held by the very same arms once.

However, as she contemplated these thoughts, another voice made itself known.

"KAGOME! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!"

'Oh, shit.' "Inuyasha, we could use a little help, here," she called. Ranma, though, was only trying to outrun Inuyasha as well as the herd behind him.

"OI! COME BACK HERE!" he yelled, joining the pursuit.

'Oh, great. Can this day get any worse?' thought Ranma. Famous last words. He knew it did when he heard the next voice.

"WHERE THE HELL AM I NOW?"

However, Ranma knew he was definitely screwed when he heard the next voice.

"I knew I should've led, Ryoga."

'Oh shit. She's gonna kill,' he thought.

* * *

It had been a good idea at the time. Not now, though.

What had possessed Tendo Akane to let Hibiki Ryoga hike through the mountain pass? She was in Kyoto, at one point, Hokkaido, the next and even Gunma. Now, she was in Kanagawa, when she felt the monstrous vibration from her feet.

'EARTHQUAKE?' she thought, before spotting the running group in front of her. 'Oh.'

However, once she saw what was happening, she would've preferred the earthquake. There, in front of her, was Ranma, holding another girl and Kagome on his back.

'That…that…' She couldn't muster up the words in her mind to insult him. However, before she could actually say anything, she was yanked along by Ryoga, following Ranma whilst being chased by the group, all too familiar with this setup to be surprised.

"Ranma? What happened?" asked Ryoga. Akane found herself in Ryoga's arms when she became aware of her surroundings.

"Talk later, run now," he said.

Kagome popped out from behind Ranma and told Akane, "This isn't what it looks like, Akane. He'll explain once we actually get out of this mess.

Ranma, though, was beginning to tire out from all the running. He needed to stop this, or else he would probably be decimated amongst the masses of angered kid. Without delay, he jumped onto one of the roofs next to him, Ryoga following him.

As the group below him passed (Hanai was so blinded at the thought of Ranma having two women, including his Yakumo-kun, he did not see what he thought was the impossible), Ranma finally let Kagome off his back, put Yakumo down, and promptly collapsed, sweating like nuts. He swore that the group below him had so much energy to go on forever.

As Ryoga let Akane down from his arms, Ranma was recovering from his 'jog', and Yakumo only sat in one place, still blushingfrom head to toe at what had transpired. Kagome, on the other hand took in a deep breathe and…

"OSUWARI!"

The result was that the demon hanyou slammed into the group in mid jump, meeting Mr. Dirt's cousin, Mr. Concrete.

As the hanyou tried to home in on their location**, **despite being magically glued with a bond stronger than a Shampoo glomp (a feat in and of itself) to the ground, Akane about blew her top.

"Ranma," she said between clenched teeth, "You have five seconds to explain yourself or it's Mallet Airlines!" Considering that she resisted both the impulse to yell and to mallet him immediately, she was rather proud of herself. Perhaps those anger management classes _were_ paying off.

After much hurried and nervous explaining, Akane found herself calm enough to accept Ranma's apology. She was still a little bit resentful (for carrying another girl in his arms and on his back, although she would never admit it), but she eventually settled on just throwing a few dirty looks at Ranma until he realized what she was upset about and apologized.

* * *

Meanwhile, Ukyo was talking to the local real estate agent about opening a new shop.

"So, I'll be able to get finance and open up the shop in a week?" she asked.

"Yes. Just sign the deal and I'll get everything organized."

Ukyo took the pen and nearly signed when she remembered that some people could be shady about these things and so she asked for a different course of action.

"Do you think I can get a copy of this contract? I'll sign it later after reading over it," she said.

"Unfortunately, I can't do that. You must read it here," said the attendant.

"Okay, then, I'll reconsider it, next time. I'll have my legal consultant (If you don't know who this is, you are a numbskull, a f*cking idiot and not a true Ranma fan) come here later so she can talk with you," said Ukyo, picking up her things, despite the fact that they were only slightly damp. She bowed and turned to leave when she saw a cloud of dust seemingly travelling by itself. She stared at the sight before shaking her head and left for the station.

However, what she didn't count on was finding her friends on top of a roof in front of her. She jumped up and saw Ranma, Akane, Ryoga, Kagome and a girl she didn't know. She was about 15, from what she gathered.

"Ranma?" she said tentatively.

"Ukyo! I didn't see you there!" he said. Akane looked at Ranma, a little miffed at something, but otherwise, fine. Ryoga stood there, looking confused and Kagome and the girl there didn't know how they should act.

"Well, it was nice seeing you again, Ranma, everyone, but I need to get back before Inuyasha tears up this town trying to look for me," said Kagome. She nearly walked off the side of the roof before turning around. "A little help here?" she asked, sweat dropping at her idiocy.

"Sure," said Ukyo and she grabbed the girl under her arms and leapt down. Ranma saw her and his mind registered where they were.

"Oi, Kagome, what are you doing here, anyway?" he said.

"I dunno, something about an assassin after Kaname's life," she said, looking thoughtfully at the fact.

"WHAT?" Ranma stood up. "I know she had crazies after her before, but an assassin?"

"Well, it'snot like we're allowed to talk about these things in public, you know," she said. "It's…umm…classified!" She thought about the rushed circumstances that they were forced out of her house for.

"Well, the only way we can actually help her is with more information. Otherwise, we're as blind as bats in the daylight!" exclaimed Ranma. Everyone, sans Yakumo, stared at him because of his simile. "What?"

"Ano…"

Everyone's attention shifted to Yakumo, Kagome tried to crane her neck to hear the girl's soft voice.

"I need to get back to school," she said, blushing at being the centre of attention.

"Ah, gomen, Yakumo. Ukyo, can you help Yakumo up here?" he said. Ukyo complied and helped Yakumo down similarly to how she helped Kagome down.

"Arigato, Ranma-san," she said before walking off down the road back to her school.

Ranma didn't know many things about the girl that walked away, but he could tell she hid a very great secret, possibly bordering superhuman. Therefore, he opted to keep a closer eye on her later. However, a statement from Kagome tore him back to the land of the living.

"…Sousuke moved us here to Yagami," she said. Ranma took particular interest in that statement.

"He did? With what information?" he asked.

"His cellphone sent him some information, but I don't know what it was," she said.

"Why didn't you ask him?" he said, beginning to get suspicious.

"I dunno. I never really thought of it," she said. "Why?"

Ranma shook his head. "Don't worry about it." He looked around and said, "Why are you here anyway, Ryoga, Akane?"

She shook her head. "Something possessed me to let Ryoga lead."

A silence met that statement as looks of disbelief were aimed at her.

"That was probably the most idiotic thing you could do, Akane," Ranma said.

"HEY!" said Ryoga.

"And what were you thinking?" Ranma said. "You know your sense of direction is atrocious, why'd you lead?" Ryoga and Akane were properly abashed at their scolding. "Well, Akane, you know it's gonna take longer to complete your training trip, so, off you go."

She nodded with renewed vigor after her scolding, and soon, she led Ryoga across the rooftops to the nearest exit out of the town.

"Now that that's taken care of, I think it's time to leave," said Ranma, leaping down from the roof. "But first, I need my test results from the school."

"Why don't you stay with us?" Kagome asked. "The house isn't far from here and I'm sure your family won't mind."

"Well, there's only one way to find out," said Ranma and he walked away from the location, Ukyo and Kagome walking after him.

Ranma reached the school with his friends in tow, hopeful that he passed his test. He showed Ukyo and Kagome the way to the reception to register themselves and Kagome's friends for the school as he walked up to the staff room. He opened the door and found himself face to face with Yakumo.

"Ah! Yakumo, gomen," he said and he moved aside for her to pas**s**.

"Arigato, Ranma-san," she said before walking off. Ranma walked inside and he soon reached Tani-sensei's desk.

Tani-sensei looked up to find Ranma in front of him. "Saotome, just the man I was looking for. Congratulations, you passed. Welcome to 2-C!"

Ranma bowed his thanks. Tani-sensei stood up and beckoned Ranma to follow. "You'll start next week, so I thought you might take the time to get to know them now," he said. He walked until he reached a door.

"Here we are," he said and he opened the door. Immediately, Ranma was met with the same chaotic aura he was met with earlier in the day and he thought one thing.

'Oh, shit.'

* * *

Alrighty, people! Some good/bad news, depending on how you view it.

I have run outta steam for RanmaXAkane pairings. I am serious and so I will not continue this story until further notice. The 'further notice' part might be sooner than you think, depending on what you want me to do. So, I offer five choices:

1. Change main pairings: This option might be the less appealable to all, since I am sure all of you are avid RanmaXAkane pairings. This might be the reason you chose to read with me in the first place. If you DO choose this option, choose a pairing. If you beg hard enough, there might be a harem (If you want it, otherwise, there won't be one), but NO YAOI! I would rather kill myself than write about a gay Ranma. *SHUDDERS* This chapter does have VERY obvious hints about which pairing I would love to right about.

2. Re-write TOWORT: I was reading over the other day and I saw all the mistakes that I made in it. This is probably due to the fact that I did not have a BETA reader at the time. So, I will then devote my time to improve the story, if you choose this option.

3. The TOWORT AU: Yep, this might be the most appealing option to most people, since there was a debate about whether TOWORT was going to be RanXAka or RanXKag. I quickly put those romours to rest though. If you would lioke to know how their past love life began, Ranma and Kagome will star as the main pairing of the TOWORT AU. Still haven't figured out a title yet, though. Choose if you would like me to actually write this story.

4. Continue SOSN: Something Old, Something New is a story which I have neglected for a little while. If you actually have read it, you'll know it's a RanmaXSchool Rumble Crossover. Choose if you want me to continue the story.

5. Suggest what I should do: You make up a choice for me. Tell me what you want! I'm open to most suggestions, so tel me what you want to see. Just about the suggestions, try not to ask me to do anything RanmaXAkane. I might turn out a below standard RanmaXAkane story, since all I see is an ungrateful b*tch who doesn't deserve Ranma at all. Sorry to RanmaXAkane lovers out there, but that's what I see right now.

So, vote in two ways: PM or Review. It's too tiresome to set up a poll, but I might be able set it up.

Sorry to all you RanXAka lovers, but unless you ask me to change the pairings, I might not continue writing this story, which is a shame since I have set this story up quite nicely.

Sorry to all!

HitokiriHERO


	6. Enter, The Dog, The Cat and The Rose

Chapter 6: Enter; The Dog, The Cat and The Rose

Disclaimer: I don't Ranma ½, Inuyasha, School Rumble or Full Metal Panic. They are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, Kobayashi Jin and Shinji Gatou.

_

* * *

Tani-sensei looked up to find Ranma in front of him. "Saotome, just the man I was looking for. Congratulations, you passed. Welcome to 2-C!"_

_Ranma bowed his thanks. Tani-sensei stood up and beckoned Ranma to follow. "You'll start next week, so I thought you might take the time to get to know them now," he said. He walked until he reached a door._

"_Here we are," he said and he opened the door. Immediately, Ranma was met with the same chaotic aura he was met with earlier in the day and he thought one thing._

'_Oh, shit.'_

* * *

Every head in 2-C swiveled around to see Tani-sensei enter the room with the boy they saw before following behind. At the sight of Ranma, two murderously cold killing auras were felt around the room, one at the front, one at the back. Ranma sweat dropped at the power of the auras.

However, Tani-sensei took no notice and walked to the front of the class, conferred with Osakabe-sensei at the front. She nodded and sat down to let him talk to the class.

"Minna, we have a new student entering our class. This is Saotome Ranma. Why don't you introduce yourself?" he said.

At this, the killing auras intensified and Ranma sweated even more.

"Well, I'm Saotome Ranma. Sorry 'bout this," he said, scratching his head in his trademarked fashion. "I do practice martial arts, but that's about it."

The auras intensified even more so, to the point that even the teachers (though Osakabe-sensei didn't show it) were terrified.

'Oh, shit, how can this get any worse?' he thought.

He should really stop tempting fate, no? But, if he did that, Ranma ½ wouldn't be what we see today. So, on with the story!

*CRASH*

Everyone looked at the window to see a man with long, black hair and dressed in a shirt and jeans which clearly showed his muscles. However, the expression on the man's face was not one you would've wanted to be aimed at you.

Unfortunately, said glare was focused on one person: Ranma.

"RANMA! WHERE DID YOU TAKE KAGOME?" yelled Inuyasha (if you haven't figured it out by now).

"HEY, IT'S NOT MY FAULT YOU DECIDED TO CHASE AFTER ME! I WOULD'VE GIVEN HER BACK JUST FINE IF YOU DIDN'T RUN AROUND LIKE A HEADLESS CHICKEN!" Ranma retorted.

"What was that?" he growled.

"You heard me! A headless CHICKEN!" Ranma yelled back at him.

"That's IT! YOU'RE GOING DOWN!"

"BRING IT ON, DOG-BOY!"

"YOU'RE ON, GIRLY-BOY!"

"Why you…" snarled Ranma. He charged at Inuyasha, who happily charged back at him.

They nearly met at the middle when a voice behind Ranma yelled, "OSUWARI!"

Inuyasha slammed into the ground and Ranma, unable to stop his charge in time, ran over the top of him (yes, stepping on him) and towards the open entrance which Inuyasha had 'created', to use a weak word.

'Oh, just great,' he thought, before nearly running out of the entrance.

Take a good look, people. Key word: nearly.

Ranma collided with something there, but he didn't see who it was until he pulled back. Unfortunately, he couldn't do so, since he felt like he was glued to the person.

"AIREN!"

'Oh, Kami-sama, please let me have a normal day!'

Oh, yeah, like that'll ever happen.

* * *

Far off in his vast dimension, the Kami of Chaos laughed manically to himself.

"Sorry Ranma, but Kami-sama can't hear you." He then got a brain wave.

'Oooh, what a deliciously evil idea!' He typed in a few commands, all the while chuckling to himself. By the time he was finished, he was in full blown maniacal laugh mode. He settled in to watch the delicious chaos unfold.

Anyway, back to the story at hand.

* * *

"Shampoo, let me go, now," he said firmly. "I don't have time for this."

"But Ranma, don't you like Shampoo new lunch buffet?" She gestured at a cart on the ground outside.

'A…buffet? Oh, god, I can't…I can, for Akane! I can't fall to temptation…but it smells so goo-No, I can't. For AKANE!' he thought. "Sorry, Shampoo, I don't."

She was surprised, but she wasn't going down without a fight. However, a flow of black petals flew into the room.

'Kill me now, please. It's kinder than…'

"HO HO HO HO HO HO!"

'…Kodachi,' he thought with a sense of finality.

* * *

The Kami of Chaos grinned from ear to ear. "Servant," he called out, "Get me some buttered popcorn." He lowered his voice and remarked, "This can only get better." When the servant came running with his popcorn and the drink he asked for, the Kami of Chaos turned back to his screen.

With the distractions, Ranma managed to worm his way out of Shampoo's grip and get back to the other side of the room, taking note of the killing intents of two people in the room, which were probably running at full blast. Frankly, Ranma was surprised that a person can hold such an aura for so long.

* * *

"What did I say before, harlot? Ranma-sama is mine and no one will have him but me. He is fit only to dine in my presence and my presence only. None are worthy," she said, before laughing maniacally. The observers who were clueless as to what was going on sweat dropped and the killing auras only intensified to inhuman levels.

But, what can you do? Tweedledee and Tweedledumb are pretty thick in the heads.

"Saotome Ranma, you vile womanizing cur! I will bring you to justice!" yelled Hanai.

"For Tsukamoto-san and Imouto-san, you will die!" yelled Harima. 'If I protect Tenma-chan and her sister, I can win her love. YOSH!'

"IKE!" yelled the pair. (Means something along the lines of 'Begin' or 'Take this'. Japanese pronunciation, too, so it's not 'Ike' from South Park, but 'e-ke')

"HURRICANE KICK!"

"ROAR, SPECIAL MOVE, FLOWER TIGER!" [Imagine this attack as a slower (at least when compared to Ranma's) 'Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken']

They charged towards Ranma, who simply sidestepped the both of them.

"Is that a challenge?" yelled Ranma.

'Oh, god,' thought Kagome.

"YES!" the pair yelled.

'What is it with men and fighting?' she continued.

"What's going on?" said a voice from behind Kagome. She turned around and saw Ukyo, trying to crane her neck to see the action.

"A pair of idiots challenged Ranma," she said, stepping aside to let her through the door. "And Kodachi and Shampoo are up to no good."

"Those two? Geez, I thought they would've had some sense knocked into them by now," she said, looking at the pair.

Going back to the action, Ranma and Hanai, with Harima had a huge stare down before Ranma said, "Fine. I accept your challenge."

"Oi, don't count me out," said Inuyasha, standing up.

"Fine. Bring it, koinu," said Ranma. With that, no more words were exchanged as the four competitors charged towards each other. (Koinu = Puppy)

Painfully Massive Timeskip

Ranma stood there, panting, Inuyasha opposite him and Hanai and Harima, both slightly wounded, still standing, but barely, running purely on adrenaline. They faced off once more as they all charged into the centre of the diamond they made.

Ranma, Hanai and Harima ran, whereas Inuyasha jumped. Why is this important? Well, the next part should answer the question.

"OSUWARI!"

*BAM*

Inuyasha slammed into the ground where the three guys were. A spider web of cracks appeared on the floor, but it still held up, by what means nobody knows. Without warning, Inuyasha crushed all three of them, Ranma's hand in a very um…interesting position, making the girls have naughty thoughts about the pair. These thoughts were not lost on Kagome or Ukyo, who turned beet red. The thought, having an all too different perspective based on their knowledge of Ranma's curse, seemed more likely (even in passing) to them than the hopeful wishes or fantasies of the other girls.

"KAGOME!" yelled Ranma and Inuyasha.

"Well, you deserv-" She remembered where Ranma's hand was and she blushed brighter as she ogled at the scene.

"Will someone hurry up and GET THIS DOG OFFA ME?" yelled Ranma.

"OI, WHO'RE YOU CALLIN A DOG?" roared Inuyasha.

"YOU, DOG BOY," yelled Ranma.

"Umm, not to interrupt or anything, but why is he called 'dog-boy'? He looks nothing like a dog and he seems to sit like a dog when the girl over there said 'osuwari', which is for dogs," said one of the bystanders.

They were right. Inuyasha was in his human form thanks to a leaf on his head from Shippo. His magic was definitely getting better, as the leaf was made to be stuck to his head. However, the inadvertent question of where 'dog-boy' caught them all off guard.

"Kagome, you got us into a good one, you know," said Ranma, his mind working furiously to come up with an excuse.

"Well, it's not my fault," she exclaimed, still blushing.

"It is, actually," Ukyo said.

"How?" she exclaimed hotly.

"Well, sugar," continued Ukyo. "If just let them fight like they normally would've, they could've gotten out of it, one having knocked the other out or so."

"But then there would've been a lot of damage done!" retorted Kagome hotly.

"Eh, it was bound to happen, Kagome," said Ranma.

"I don't BELIEVE this! What happened so that you didn't care about property damage?" she yelled.

"Um, Kagome, we went to Furinkan," said Ukyo. "They somehow managed to cover up the property damage."

Kagome sweat dropped.

"Umm, that's very good'n'all, but COULD YOU PLEASE GET THIS DOG OFFA ME?" he yelled in a begging tone.

"Oi, watch it, girly-boy," said Inuyasha.

Just then, two very annoying nuisances (at least according to Ranma; the hentai club just ogled at them) made their way towards Ranma, dragged Inuyasha off, threw him into a corner ("HEY!" he yelled, before getting knocked out by a well aimed bonbori) grabbed Ranma and started a tug-of-war for him. (Déjà vu, no?)

As for Tweedledee and Tweedledumb, they were knocked out. But no one paid much attention to them as they focused on the bitch fight for Ranma.

"Ranma-sama is mine, bitch!" yelled Kodachi.

"Airen love me!" retorted Shampoo.

Meanwhile, Ranma was getting dazed as he kept getting pulled by his arms. Ukyo, feeling pity for the guy, pulled out her spatula and hit Ranma into the ground, hoping to get the girls let go of him. (What logic she used, I haven't a clue. But hey, it makes for great comedy, no?)

Unfortunately, she used too much power and the floor buckled. Ranma was forced through the floor, making a clean hole as he fell onto the ground floor below. Even more unfortunate, the class happened to be 1-F.

Perhaps the most unfortunate thing, though, was that Ranma happened to be right above one Tsukamoto Yakumo's seat. Once the dust settled, the scene showed Ranma knocked out, right over the top of Yakumo's body, with said girl blushing very brightly. (You can pick up the hints, can't you?)

Ranma recovered and found his pillow to be awkwardly shaped, but extremely comfortable (Get your mind outta the gutters, hentais; it's not what you think). Ranma got up and it only incriminated him further, as the view meant that everyone thought he was straddling the poor girl.

However, Ranma was unaware of all this as he was still dazed from the hit he was given.

"Uhn…did anyone catch the number of that truck that hit me?" he said, before shaking his head and he became aware of the situation.

Ranma blushed bright, easily matching Yakumo's, shade for shade. He stared into the depths of her eyes, the deep red rubies of her pupils. At least until some coughed and he recovered, getting off her. She sat up and refused to look him in the eye.

It was at this point that Ranma was aware of his surroundings. He was in a classroom, full of kids and teachers, with the newly created skylight showing his other two 'girls' and he had just straddled the most beautiful woman in the entire first year (not that he knew, of course).

Ranma could also make out Kagome, Ukyo, Harima and Hanai looking into the room and he knew he was dead. Busted. Incapacitated. Im-belli-think-apocalypse-ily screwed.

**WARNING! WARNING! CRUDE LANGUAGE WILL FOLLOW! READ AT YOUR OWN RISK!**

"SAOTOME RANMA, YOU SON OF A BITCH, HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO IMOUTO-SAN?" roared Harima. Ranma cringed as he awaited his usual beatdown.

'Why me?' he thought. This was picked up on by Yakumo as she tried to ignore all the thoughts of anger protruding from the minds of every male.

"THE VILE, FUCKING MAN MUST DIE!" yelled one of the men in the room.

"THE BASTARD SHALL PAY FOR RUINING TSUKAMOTO'S PURE INNOCENCE!"

'Why is everyone acting like I raped her, or something?' he thought. Again, this was picked up by Yakumo as she saw the implications of what would happen to Ranma if something didn't happen.

Thankfully, something did.

*BOOM*

"SOUSUKE!"

*WHAP*

"Ms. Chidori, that hurt," said Sousuke in his mono voice.

"YOU HAD NO RIGHT TO BLOW UP THE WALL JUST TO GET TO MY COUSIN!" she yelled angrily. (Yeah, and he was a floor off, too, no less).

As the harisen punishment continued, everyone looked at the peculiar sight of a girl beating someone up with a paper fan. Kagome, knowing what was going on, jumped through the hole and, with practiced precision picked up from running from demons 500 years in the past, landed without incident.

…which is what I'd LIKE to say, but unfortunately she did land on someone. Namely, Ranma.

She landed on his back (OUCH!) and forced the poor guy forward. Onto Yakumo. Again.

The result was that Ranma was now successfully sandwiched between the two girls. All three faces flared up, two thankful that their respective partners couldn't see what was happening. Otherwise, they would've beat Ranma up (as it was too impolite to hit a girl).

However, the worst part was that Ranma, when he got up earlier, had his face sandwiched between Yakumo's err…bosom, to quote an old, wrinkly man.

The result of this was, while the girls focused on the beatdown outside (Kaname was losing steam, however she does have excellent stamina from running away from giant robots) the boys' killing intent flared, along with two certain girls and when Ranma pulled his head from his uncomfortable position (for him, that is; most other guys would've been in heaven), he tried to apologize to Yakumo before his sixth sense went off. Without thinking, he rolled off Yakumo and forcing Kagome of his back in the process, taking her with him, picked up Kagome and leapt outside to safety through the newly created hole while the rest of the group converged on where they used to be and started a huge free-for-all.

'Why does this always happen to me?' Ranma mused. As he landed outside, he put Kagome and Yakumo down.

"You two should probably get outta here. I can't defend myself at my best if I have to worry about you two."

*Back at the classroom*

Harima and Hanai burst from the pile of bodies (mostly male) where Ranma had been moments ago. Harima, in his fit of rage, pulled out some of the writing implements he always kept on him for the strange times inspiration struck and hurled them at Ranma like shuriken.

* * *

The Kami of Chaos threw a fit as pop-up advertisement for a premium package deal for his software came up.

'I knew I shoulda gotten the platinum membership' he grumbled to himself as he waited for the time to tick by until he could continue watching. (Anyone who has used mega video without a membership knows what I am talking about, you watch 2 hours and then it gives you a message that you need to upgrade, login, or wait ____ minutes till you can watch again.)

* * *

Ranma, sensing this, flashed out his hands and caught them, using their momentum to spin himself around and launched them back. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing, and the projectiles angled to the side a bit… aiming right for the back of a currently unaware Kodachi, seeing as she was tied up in an argument with Shampoo.

"Watch out!" called Hanai, as he tackled Kodachi right before the projectiles embedding themselves centimeters into the wall. He ended up in an awkward position on top of Kodachi, staring into her eyes (Aren't they all in this story?).

'You know, she is kinda cute when she isn't…' his pondering was cut off as a predatory smile appeared on Kodachi face. You all can figure out what happens next. While Hanai is being chased by Kodachi, Harima burst out of the door, followed by a number of classmates from both 2-C and 1-F as they rushed down the stairs.

*Outside*

As soon as Ranma had finished deflecting the shuriken propelled pens, he turned to the pair and said, "See what I mean?"

However, no sooner had he got the words out when the door behind him exploded and the Harima-led group charged through the door and headed for their target.

Ranma saw the spectacle and he immediately knew what would happen. Without warning, he grabbed both girls and leaped the 3 stories in the building in one jump and landed on top of the roof.

"Why me?" he said quietly. The girls heard him, though they made no comment. They, however, just looked over the edge of the building and saw the blue haired girl finally calming down to stop hitting our local military otaku. Said military otaku just pulled out his phone and dialed a number.

Because of the distance in between, the girls didn't know what was going on, but then, a helicopter showed up and picked him and the girl up and soon, they were flying into the distance. Everyone did stare for a while, until they realized what they were supposed to be doing and so they went back to their activities, aka, beating the crap out of each other.

Ranma though, took no note of this and he said to the girls, "Sorry 'bout that."

Kagome was the first to respond. "Come on, Ranma, you know what happens to you happens on a daily basis. Don't feel bad because we're in the way."

Ranma sighed. "It's exactly because of that. Because you're in my way, sooner or later either of you could get hurt. I really don't that to happen to either of you."

Yakumo blushed at the words, though not as strongly as she normally would've been. Somehow she felt safe around Ranma, as if she could let herself relax just a little. This led to some very disturbing questions. Questions that stirred the selfish part of her that she had long ago buried.

While Yakumo was pondering her feelings, Ranma was a clueless to everyone else's as ever. He waved his hand in front of Yakumo's face.

"Oi, you there? Have you heard anything I've said?" He let out a deep sigh. 'What did I do to deserve this?' This was picked up by Yakumo, who snapped out of her daze and came to.

"Right, we should get out of here. Goodness knows when those fools will calm down." That said, Kagome led the three forward, just as the bell rang to change classes. (Wonder how they'll happen with the madness that happened)

* * *

Just a small treat for you, I'm creating a new school of martial arts for Ranma. That's right: a new school of martial arts for Ranma. As to what it's based around, that's for 'n' my beta to know and for you to find out (hopefully soon). Finally, review!


	7. Akane's Fury

Chapter 7: Akane's Fury

Disclaimer: I don't Ranma ½, Inuyasha, School Rumble or Full Metal Panic. They are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, Kobayashi Jin and Shinji Gatou.

* * *

Hey All! Thanks to all those that have reviewed this story thus far. I appreciate all your comments!

As you all know from this chapter (and Starlight Dreams, for those of you who are on my author alerts), I am still alive and well, despite going through three days straight of 43 degrees + heat. The weather here down under is topsy turvy. Said heat wave only happened about 2 weeks ago and yesterday, Melbourne had it's hottest day ever in recorded history: 46.4 degrees.

As for this chapter, I have only one thing to say: this is, partly, a filler chapter. I know, it's pointless, but this chapter does have its uses. It'll lay the foundations for later on.

So, without further ado, on with the story!

* * *

As Akane and Ryoga made their way through the mountains, she slipped. Thankfully, Ryoga managed to catch her before she tumbled off the side.

'Dammit, why do I keep doing this?' she thought angrily. 'I don't see Ryoga slipping up. And he's not even winded! Why did I have to be so weak?'

"Akane, you alright?" said Ryoga, concerned.

Akane looked slightly flustered. "Uh, yeah, I'm fine!" she said, trying to cover up her tiredness.

Ryoga looked at her pointedly. "Akane, we can rest, you know, if you're-"

"NO!" she said loudly. Ryoga looked at her, slightly alarmed. "I mean, no. I'm fine. We can continue!" she said, emphasizing the last part.

"Okay, then," said Ryoga, though he made note to stick closer to her.

* * *

"Shit!"

Ranma collapsed in the Tendo Dojo, sweating bullets and hunched over. He lay on the ground as, once again, tried to recover from the exhaustion.

"Ranma, you knew that this was going to happen. I told you to stop," said a familiar voice.

"Sensei, you know who I am," Ranma replied, in a harsh tone.

Herb stood over his latest student. "I do. And it pains me to see you like this. Don't forget, you still have something else to do for me."

"Like what? Go off and retrieve some lost forbidden relic so you can teach me? Only to have it taken away later?" said Ranma rather scathingly. He had that experience one to many times with his father.

Ranma was literally at his wit's end as he tried to remember what happened the last few days. One of the symptoms of ki exhaustion meant a shut to all but the most vital areas of the body. This included memory.

"Get up, Ranma. I have one more thing to teach you."

Ranma did so, despite unwillingly. The one thing his father had drilled (more likely beaten) into him was to never disrespect you sensei when he is teaching you. However, he learnt whom not to respect when outside lessons. Namely, said father.

"Your ki control is of the utmost delicate, so much that you can perform life saving operations without a scalpel," said Herb. "Therefore, as your sensei, I bestow to you, the final task I will ever give."

"Which is?" he said.

"For you to make your own style of martial arts based on ki control," he replied, looking at Ranma as if his life depended on it.

Ranma looked helplessly at this.

"As you know, your father created the Saotome Schools of Umisenken and Yamasenken. No matter how embarrassing the original concept that it was based on, they are, without a doubt, worthy of baring the title 'sealed school', mainly due to their destructive power."

Ranma nodded.

"As such, it is your turn to do so. You, however, must base it on the concepts I have taught you over the last few months."

"You will then engage me in a battle. You must fight me using these new techniques. And, win or lose, if they are not satisfactory, you will lose something most dear to you."

Ranma looked clueless.

"A cure for your curse."

This got Ranma's attention.

"In one week's time, I will return to see how you have progressed. In the meantime, I will take my leave."

Herb turned and walked to the door, but he stopped short and turned to face Ranma once more.

"Might I suggest the Amazon techniques be your first stepping stone?"

With that, he left the room.

Ranma sat there, contemplating the clue that Herb left him.

'Amazon technique? Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken with ki? He must be crazy!' Ranma sat there thinking about what uses he could devise by revising Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire.

As he sat there, he reached around inside his shirt and pulled out Kaze no Ryu. 'Well, then, let's test some things out then, shall we?'

With that, he started using his mind to figure out new attacks.

* * *

Inuyasha and Miroku were picking out their rooms in their new residence.

"This one's mine, Miroku!" said Inuyasha rather braggingly.

After escaping from the hellhole of 2-C, Inuyasha ran back to the mansion, making a mental note to NEVER go back.

Sango then raised the issue of moving in, so Inuyasha and Miroku went off to find their new rooms. And lo, behold, Inuyasha just happens to choose the master bedroom.

"Inuyasha, I don't think that's a wise choice," said Miroku, as Inuyasha prepared to barge through the door as if there was an enemy behind it.

"Why?"

"Because."

*SLAM*

*CREEEK*

*WHAM*

"That."

Inuyasha had slammed through that door, only to find the huge cabinets in the room were precariously placed, leading to a rather (pardon the pun) crushing blow to his pride and head.

As Inuyasha struggled to get the quote f*cking piece of sh!t unquote off, Miroku walked through and inspected the room.

He found a small black box, no bigger than a matchbox, with a few buttons on it. He pressed the one with a line drawn across it.

The wall directly in front of Inuyasha opened up and a bed came (pardon the pun, again) crushing down upon Inuyasha's feet.

As Inuyasha's strangled cries echoed throughout the house (and, conveniently, the neighborhood) Miroku looked again at the small black box and found another button with an 'L' shaped line, rotated about 45 degrees. He pressed the button and the bed lifted itself off Inuyasha's feet and bent at an angle.

'Interesting,' he thought and he pressed the button next to it.

This was apparently, an alarm button, as all the doors shut themselves, the windows locked and shutters placed and electricity was cut from the room, plunging it into darkness.

Inuyasha had finally lifted the cabinet off of his head when he heard the loud blaring sounds. He put his hands over his ears to muffle the noise. It didn't work.

"TURN THE F*CKING THING OFF!" he yelled in his pleasant voice.

"INUYASHA, I DON'T KNOW HOW!" he yelled back.

"WELL, DO SOMETHING!"

Miroku tried getting out his cell phone and calling Sango's number, but a disruption in the cell phone meant that all contact to and from the phone was lost (One of Sousuke's tidbits).

"Well, drat, what do we do now?" he said.

* * *

"Well, Sergeant, I hope you have a good reason why you saw it necessary to call out a helicopter to an unknown location to pick you and you charge up for a joy ride," said Commander Mardukas, second in command of the submarine where Sousuke worked: the Teletha de Danaan.

"Sir! I found it necessary to do this since I saw no other foreseeable way out!" called Sergeant Sagara.

Kaname, though, was not pleased. After being pulled roughly into the helicopter, she was forced to skydive into the sea, strapped to Sergeant Thickhead (no complaints from her, though), and dived almost 5 meters below the surface to board the the submarine. from there, one Captain Tessa Testarossa latched herslef onto said Sergeant's arm and started yapping away whilst she was escorted to her room by another Sergeant: Kurz Weber, the self-proclaimed gift to women around the world and "the Gigolo Warrior". As such, he saw fit to hit on her every second he spent inher company, claiming no woman could resist the "Gigolo Beam."

Apparently, he's never heard of the word 'restraint', nor the meaning of 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'.

He learnt both that day.

To top it all off, she was probably going to be blamed for taking a $20 million dollar helicopter for a 'joy ride', as Mardukas had put it before.

However, all was not lost as she and Sousuke were eventually sent back home to Yagami. Eventually.

* * *

It was a little after sunset that Ryoga and Akane had reached the top of the mountain where they would be training.

Unlike Ryoga, Akane was panting furiously after the hike from hell. She looked at Ryoga and was furious to see that he was barely panting after their walk. How was he so strong?

"Well, now, Akane, I'll set up camp and you can catch the ingredients for dinner. Some fish will do us. There's a stream up ahead, just by that clearing over there," said Ryoga, pointing the way for her.

"Okay, Ryoga." She walked off and found the small river flowing past them. She rolled up her sleeves and waded into the water.

It wasn't so bad at first, if that could be defined as feeling as if small knives were cutting into your skin every second. Add to that the uneven surface below, and she was barely keeping her balance.

She didn't even know how she was going to stand up much less catch fish without falling into the river. As she looked around, she found a fish swimming too closely to her and she prepared to strike.

As she moved in, the fish noticed her and quickly swam away. She failed to stop moving and stumbled, falling into the river.

"Akane!"

She heard the yell and looked around to see Ryoga looking at her. She looked a little further on and saw the camp was set up and a fire merrily crackling.

"You all right?"

"Un," she said, nodding her head.

"All right then. Keep going. Think of this as practice for catching a slippery opponent," he said, trying to motivate her.

She nodded again and looked around into the water. She cast her eyes onto a dark patch and she tensed, preparing to leap. Slowly, she made her way to the fish and dived.

After a few moments of being submerged, Akane rose for air again, holding the fish with her.

"Yatta!" she yelled, holding the fish above her head. She slipped into the water and the fish got away again.

When she surfaced again, she saw Ryoga's hand, outstretched to hers. "Are you all right?"

Over the course of the summer (the break in between the first and second stories: about 3-4 months) Ranma had been giving her lessons on how to swim at the local aquatics centre. She could water, but still required someone to be there in case she had a mishap.

Still, when Ryoga pulled her out of the water, he tried to make her feel better by saying, "Don't worry about it. We'll catch some rabbits, okay?"

While she didn't show anything on the outside, she was thinking.

'Dammit, why can't I do anything right? Ranma and Ryoga, Ukyo, Mousse, hell, even SHAMPOO can do better than ME! I was the best in Nerima! Me!'

When Ryoga did catch some rabbits (Akane did help by tripping over her own two feet, catching one in the process), he prepared and cooked them, again, Akane wishing she could do things like Ryoga could (for the idiots who don't know, her cooking skills).

* * *

The next day…

Yakumo found herself walking to the supermarket store with her sister. Though she did support her sister, she wasn't so sure about her latest venture to get Karasuma to notice her. (Uh oh?)

_Flashback_

_As Tenma walked home from school with her friends, Suou Mikoto brought up an important note._

"_Oi, isn't it supposed to be Valentine's Day soon?" she said._

_This brought a stop to two of her three other companions._

"_V-V-Valentine's Day?" said Tenma hurriedly. 'B-b-b-but then, K-K-Karasuma will be expecting ch-ch-chocolate!'_

_Eri baulked, but did nothing else to give away her feelings. "S-so what?"_

_At this, Suou smiled evilly. (A frightening sight if you've seen it before) "Ah, so Ojou has a love, eh? Who's it for, eh?" she said provokingly, prodding at her with her elbow._

_Eri blushed. "Na-na-na-nani? Wh-wh-who says I have one?" she stuttered all too revealingly._

_Tenma caught on (fortunately or unfortunately). "Eh? Sawachika loves someone? But I thought she said she hated men?"_

_Eri nodded approvingly at this. "That's right," she said unconvincingly. "I hate men."_

"_Well, let's see who. __Asou?" said Suou out loud._

"_Eh?" she said._

"_Haruki?"_

"_Eh? Nani?"_

"_Karasuma?"_

"_Eh?!"_

"_EHHHH?!" yelled Tenma._

"_N-no way, Tenma," said Sawachika, finally catching on._

"_Harima," said the last of the four companions, Takano Akira._

_Eri remained silent, though she blushed ever so slightly, stunned._

"_EHHHHHHHHHHHH?" yelled Tenma and Suou at the same time. "HARIMA?"_

"_Wh-who said I loved Hige?" she said, trying to regain her composure._

_Suou smirked at her. "Oh, so now it's Hige. What's with the pet name? All ready lovers?" she said, waggling her eyebrows._

"_Ch-chotto mateo!"_

_She was, luckily, saved by Suou remembering something. "You know, I've heard that if you give someone you love homemade chocolates, you'll eventually fall in love."_

_Akira looked nonplussed. "You just got that from the magazine in your bag that's sticking out, didn't you?" she said._

_Suou jumped and she made to hide the magazine, but Eri was faster (somehow) and grabbed it before the other girl could do anything._

_As Eri (and Tenma, for some reason not unknown to the others), peered into the magazine, she saw the page where the advice that she had been given was found, along with a complete set of instructions as to how to make chocolate. Eri smirked back the owner._

"_So, you've been trying to make chocolate, eh? Wonder who's it for?"_

"_Th-that's none of your business," she replied rather feebly._

_As the magazine lay on the ground forgotten (Eri was teasing , Tenma made sure no one was looking and pulled out her notebook, quickly wrote the instructions down and put it away before anyone could see her._

_Fortunately, only Akira saw her and so she made no move to do anything about it._

"_Well, then," said Tenma. "Yakumo said something about helping her out, so, ja!"_

_She walked off before her friends, could say anything (though thankfully they didn't: two were still embroiled in fighting and one said nothing)._

_End Flashback_

As she entered the shop, Yakumo was looking at her sister, who seemed to be getting far too many things required for homemade chocolate. She looked at the fruit and vegetables piled into the basket.

"Ano, Nee-san?"

"Hmm? What is it, Yakumo?" her sister said.

"Umm, I'm not too sure, but I'm pretty sure you don't need pineapple for chocolate," she said, holding it up. "Also, I'm pretty sure you don't need oranges, cucumbers, tomatoes, celery or carrots for chocolate."

"But I want to make Karasuma-kun the best chocolate in the whole wide world and I'm sure you need those ingredients to make it," she said depressingly.

"Ah, nee-san, it's alright," Yakumo cried, desperate not to make her cry.

"Really? YATTA!" she said, re-energizing herself instantly.

And so, with the main ingredients bought (with the little tidbits from Tenma), they walked home, carrying the bags.

As she walked, her thoughts carried, unconsciously, to a certain pigtailed martial artist whom she had met earlier and remembered when she been carried. She felt a sense of yearning, a sense of wanting, a sense of…selfishness. She didn't like it and so she squashed the thoughts before they could carry any further. However, before she knew it, her thoughts turned back to another boy: this time, a boy clad in a black jacket, riding a motorbike.

"-kumo? Yakumo?"

She shook herself and found her sister looking at her.

"Are you alright? Your face was red a minute ago."

She blushed again, not realizing that she had actually done so. However, Tenma, for the first time, she actually managed to hit the bull's eye.

"Were you thinking about someone you liked?" she said, looking at her for a reaction. Yakumo's blush skyrocketed.

"I…well…that is…"

Tenma yelled. "Eh? You have someone you like? Who is it? Who is it?"

Yakumo blushed even brighter, if that were possible. "Nee-san!"

Her sister calmed down, but she didn't stop talking. "You know, you should get to him before you lose him. I know!" she said, looking excitedly. "You should make him some homemade chocolate!"

At this remark, Yakumo started stuttering. "A-a-a-ano, nee-san, I-I-I don't think-" She stopped as Tenma looked her in the eye.

"Yakumo. You will make one and you'll give it to him as your sister says," she said, flames burning in her eyes.

"H-hai," she said.

Her sister was really pushy, Yakumo decided. But in order to make her sister happy, she would do anything. So she would give chocolates to them both.

But first, she needed to get home and make them.

* * *

In the mountains of Japan, some were not so content with their current allotments in life. Ryoga sat at the campfire, eating the meal he had prepared himself (thank goodness Akane was too occupied to try to cook) as another resounding *crash* of a boulder hitting a certain female martial artist rang throughout the area.

He cringed remembering the pain he went through to learn this technique, and hoped that Akane would remember to keep her finger straight this time. She was really coming along great, but every time she got a hint of the breaking point's position, she would lose it in her excitement, which only caused her to get upset and ram her fist through it.

While he no longer sought her love, he did still care for her, and he really did want her to succeed, but the only way she could get this technique would be to forget her crazy drive to overcome everything through shear strength, and to concentrate. Plus it was getting kind of tiring to drag boulders from all over the mountain to their training spot so that she could have something to practice on.

**

* * *

'****Chikushou**, why isn't this working?! I've been going at it for at least a month now, and Ranma and Ryoga learned it faster than that (check my facts).' She had done everything Ryoga had said. She had even closed her eyes with a REAL FREAKING BOULDER barreling towards her. Every time she felt the spot, she would get elated and it would disappear.

Hell, Ryoga had even told her the problem. Her concentration and anger were uncontrollable. She decided to take a five minute break. She climbed down from the harness holding her up to the tree and sat on a fallen tree. She thought back to her cocky words earlier.

_Flashback_

_The first afternoon of their training (after they got back from Nerima), Ryoga came to Akane and shouted up, _

"_Ne, Akane. It's getting dark, why don't we call it a day?"_

_Akane's anger flared. If Ranma and Ryoga could do it without breaks, so could she._

"_I'm not stopping until I can do it!" She yelled down. Ryoga had seen mallets suddenly appear after that tone to know when to step down and concede. _

"_Ok, but I insist you get a little sleep and at least 3 meals."_

_End Flashback_

Akane sighed; it had seemed so easy then. After all, she broke bricks all the time right? She straightened herself out of her depleted posture as she heard Ryoga approaching with one of the three meals he had insisted on her eating. She would never admit it, but she was glad that he insisted upon it. As Ryoga asked how she was doing and handed her a bowl of stew, she fingered the envelope in her pocket.

No, not quite yet. She would only use that when she was desperate, and, while things seemed to be heading expediently, she wasn't quite there yet.

* * *

Well, now, there's quite a bit going on in this chapter: Ranma's been offered a cure, Akane's getting angry at herself and Inuyasha and Miroku's mishaps have been getting them into trouble. And what's this about Yakumo thinking about two different men?

Well, as you all should know by know, I'll be doing a Valentine's Day special. So, until then, await such a chapter.

As for intolerable silence until now, there's been a major heat wave going through Victoria and so there's been a lot of computer crashing and story-erasing things going on at the moment. As such, as soon as I've posted Chapter 8, I will be ceasing all writing activities until the end of summer (End of February).

However, I haven't been slacking off during that time. I have finally completed Ranma's new school of martial arts. As such, apart from my beta, only one person knows only a hint of what the school contains and its name.

If you review, I MIGHT give a clue to you. One reader already knows this hint, so if you want to know, get reviewing.

Well, until Feb 14, then.

HitokiriHERO


	8. UnValentine's Day

Chapter 8: Un-Valentine's Day?

Disclaimer: I don't Ranma ½, Inuyasha, School Rumble or Full Metal Panic. They are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, Kobayashi Jin and Shinji Gatou.

* * *

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Well, thanks to all the reviewers from the last chapter, your comments are really what drive me to write such entertaining stories, so keep up the good work (and I'll keep up mine)!

And, of course, this is my Valentine's Day special, so I've tried to make it EXTRA long for you guys!

However, by no means, this is not the last version of this chapter. I will post a second version of this chapter once me and my beta (as well as your criticism) gives me a chance to revise this chapter (the Kagome and Inuyasha section is an example of this).

ENJOY!

(P.S.: this chapter has a slight jump from the last one, about 2 – 3 days.)

(P.P.S.: Prepare to see Murphy's Law stretched to the extreme like no other story before, particularly in one section)

(P.P.P.S.: i did say this was going to be my last chapter for February, so you had better enjoy this one)

* * *

Ah, February 14th, Valentine's Day. A day where most men are concerned with getting one thing: chocolate. From whom, you may ask? Women, the poisonously divine beings from Kami-sama himself!

Now, I say most, because there are, believe it or not, some men who aren't concerned with such trivial things! Yes, I know! Mad, isn't it?

Unfortunately, such people do exist. One of these prominent figures is named Sagara Sousuke.

At the moment, the military-otaku-in-question was not thinking about how receiving such gifts from goddesses (think any less of them and the saying 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned' might just have an effect on you). He could actually have been said to be thinking quite the opposite thing.

At the moment, he was walking on the side street with one Chidori Kaname, whom was still pissed off at the last turn of events that had transpired from their…err…'tour' of the school. She walked at least a good 5 metres (about 16ft) ahead of him.

"Miss Chidori, I must question these latest turn of events. It seems that everyone of the female sex is holding some sort of strange package. I'm not sure, but could you please tell me what's going on? I fear that these packages contain some sort of secret message or some explosiv-"

Foot-in-Mouth Disease: 1, Love: 0

At this, Kaname snapped. "How many times do I have to tell you? It's Valentine's day!" she yelled. "They're not anything dangerous!"

Sousuke looked at her thoughtfully. "So, what are they for then?"

Kaname looked at him like he was mad. "They have chocolate!"

Sousuke looked back at her, apparently drawing a conclusion. "So let me see if I understand. The small packages contain chocolate, most likely as rations, for some huge military event that may include evacuation and/or conscription into the-"

*WHACK*

"YOU ARE IMPOSSIBLE!" she yelled, waving the paper fan around. "I HAVE **NEVER **MET A GUY SO **OBTUSE** IN MY **LIFE**!"

"That smarts," said Sousuke, leaning forward in an externally induced bow.

"AND IT SHOULD!"

"So, if that's not what they are used for, then what is their purpose?"

"THEY'RE-" She stopped as she realized what she was going to say.

"They're what, Miss Chidori?"

"N-never mind," she said, blushing. "W-we're going to be late!" she said.

As she ran off, Sousuke looked at her wistfully. 'I wonder what's so important about this day.'

* * *

One other man not so whole heartedly concerned with chocolates would have to be Inutaisho Inuyasha. He, along with Kagome, was at home waiting for their other friends to leave for school. Kagome, giddy with joy, had two packages of chocolate prepared: for Ranma, as her long time friend (mercy chocolate) and Inuyasha, her short standing boyfriend.

"Man, what's taking them so long? Miroku and Sango surely can't be this frisky in the morning!" exclaimed Inuyasha maddeningly.

"Inuyasha, that's no way to speak about them! And besides, Miroku might have done something for Sango," said Kagome, dressed in her new uniform. Whilst the entrance exams for the six friends had been rather dull, it was not easy for some.

Inuyasha, was one example: he literally refused to seethe point in going to some quote f*cking pointless place unquote until Miroku literally bribed him with not seeing Kagome for most of the day until she got home unless he got in. Such exuberant outbursts from Inuyasha ceased right there and then.

Sousuke, on the other hand, had only one weakness: Japanese Literature. Because of his rather unnatural upbringing (when compared with Ranma's, Ranma probably got the better end of the deal in certain aspects: I wouldn't want to turn into a girl, but I would rather take that than being traumatized by war), he keeps relating everything back to his training as a war specialist. He even messed up a poem relating to a sick person and crying about it with an injured person at war trying to get to a war ship for treatment, but was stopped by helicopters along the way.

As such, Kagome and Kaname, the exuberant cousins, decided to think of the only way to tame the thick-headed (more so than Ranma, Harima, Hanai, Tenma AND Inuyasha COMBINED! Well, maybe that's a bit too much, but at least three of the five combined) man was to treat him like a dog: Reward him for right answers; lay the smackdown for wrong answers.

And so, we come back to before this insanely long explanation of how Inuyasha and co. got into Yagami High: why Inuyasha and Kagome were waiting for Miroku and Sango.

"Well, if they're gonna do something, they should be quick about it! And what's that sweet smell that's hanging around you? It's like something creamy but nothing like that beats ramen!" he said sniffing all around her.

Foot-in-Mouth Disease: 2, Love: 0

"OSUWARI!"

*WHAM*

"After all the trouble I spent looking around for this chocolate which I was going to give to you, you just HAD to say that, didn't you?" she yelled and stomped off too school.

As Miroku and Sango watched the fuming girl stalk off, they inspected the human shaped hole in the ground that was Inuyasha.

"Inuyasha, you do know what today is, right?" asked Miroku.

"No, and I don't care," he muffled.

"Oh, my good friend, you will care when you know what the day is," he replied.

Ten minutes later (and a spell wearing off), Inuyasha was looking at Miroku, rather confused. They were waling along the path where Kagome left her scent.

"I don't understand," Inuyasha said. "This is so confusing."

Miroku sighed. "Okay, then, I'll try once more."

Sango shook her head. She would've given up by now, considering that Inuyasha had the attentiveness and the IQ of a toddler.

"Today is Valentine's Day," said Miroku. "Today is the day where girls, like Kagome and Sango, give us guys gifts, like chocolate." At this, Miroku held up a small wrapped package.

"And how does this help me?"

"Because, in one month's time, it's White Day (March 14th). That is when we, guys, give back gifts to the girls because they gave us gifts."

"And what's the point of all this?"

"FOR LOVE! This activity expresses love!"

"And how does this relate to Kagome?"

(A/N: Honestly, you'd think he'd get it by now: seems like all the maturing he did the last time only applies to situations that have happened before)

"Right now, Kagome is hurt and confused about whether you actually do love her."

"But I DO love her!"

"But, you haven't shown it to her. At this moment, she thinks your nothing but trash. And if what she said is true, she'll probably give something to Ranma because she loves her (not like that, but who knows?)."

"NOW, JUST WAIT A MINUTE! She loves me, not that cross-dressing, cheating, transgender bastard!"

'Is this the guy with the IQ of a toddler?' thought Sango, sweat dropping.

"Then prove it!"

Inuyasha attempted to run off, but he was quickly grabbed by the collar by Miroku. "As much as I'd like to see you make an ass of yourself in front of the school, we need your nose to get us to school," he said.

"BUT-"

"Later."

"But-"

"I said, later, Inuyasha."

"But-"

Sango, though, tired of the conversation, smacked Inuyasha in the head. "If you wanna see Kagome, let's go to school."

Inuyasha pouted, but made no attempt to break away from his friends.

* * *

Ranma, Ukyo and Nabiki boarded the train that was bound to Yagami, Ranma, deciding to finally go to school (through no fault of his own: let's just say blackmail and spatulas were part of the long list of tor-(ahem) persuasion…techniques…yeah).

"Come ON, Ranma, we're gonna be late!" said Ukyo, Nabiki walking alongside her with her briefcase in hand.

"You mean, **I'M** gonna be late," he said, carrying his book bag.

"Oh, come now, Saotome. How bad is another year of school?" said Nabiki.

"Says the one in her last year of school," he grumbled.

"What was that, Ranma-chan?" she said, sweetly, yet deadly.

Ranma looked at her and he knew what was coming. "Nothing, nothing," he said.

Though they still had some ground to cover, Ranma and Nabiki were at least on speaking terms, though the unspoken fallout between the pair was, at the very least, enlightening (This happened during the 3 – 4 month break between TOWORT and CH).

Though neither would disclose the details (not even Ranma to Akane), they insisted that everything between them was fine, though now they spoke only to each other when necessary (necessary in Nabiki's lingo meaning every time she wanted to spite Ranma).

Ranma had only conceded because he knew Nabiki could make his life a living hell. And, if he tried to run away from, her tracking skills (regrettably) were second to none. In fact, she helped police at times when they came across a tricky spot.

Right now, though, Ukyo could barely keep the tension between the pair from rising and she decided to make use of the time to give her gift to Ranma as they were waiting for the train to arrive.

"Ran-chan?" she asked rather tentatively.

"Yes, Ucchan?" (Though not fiancés, Ranma still insisted on calling her that and so she followed suit)

"Umm…Happy Valentine's Day!" she said presenting a gift of chocolate to Ranma.

Ranma stiffened, then he turned around to look at her and at the chocolate. When he saw no obvious signs of lusting, he relaxed and said, "Arigato, Ucchan!"

Slightly hurt at his actions, though understanding and guilty of them, she covered up her uneasiness with a smile. "You're welcome, Ran-chan."

Ranma, though, tore open the packaging and proceeded to eat the chocolate and a slower rate than his normally accepted eating speed. Considered by fast for some, it was JUST slow enough to be socially acceptable for others.

At seeing this sight, Ukyo smiled at him. She had always wanted to repair her friendship with Ranma and thought that Valentine's Day would be the best way to do this.

As the train arrived at the station, Ranma finished the chocolate and stuffed the packaging into his pocket, leaving part of it visible. He and the two girls rode the train to Yagami.

Foot-in-Mouth Disease: 2, Love: 1

* * *

As the day came into full bloom, Tsukamoto Yakumo and Tsukamoto Tenma walked to school, clutching their completed sweets for the man/en of their dreams (the one with men couldn't help but wonder that something was going to go wrong today, despite listening to her sister).

"Ne, ne, Yakumo, do you think that Karasuma-kun is going to like his present?" she asked excitedly.

Yakumo didn't like to crush her sister's hopes, but the chances of getting a reaction out of Karasuma were as likely as Ranma stopping the Art, Akane giving up her mallet or Ryoga getting everywhere he needed to on time. So, she lied.

"I'm pretty sure Karasuma-san will like your chocolate," she said.

As she and her sister walked on, her sister's group of friends came into view. A bit further down the road, her friend, Sara Adiemus, came into view. She speed past hers sister's group of friends, one of whom was giving a quizzing look (Three guesses who. And the first two don't count).

As she and Sara walked away from the group of friends, Harima came into view, riding his bike into the school grounds. A little further away, Karasuma Ooji could be seen.

Sara caught the look in Yakumo's eyes and she said encouragingly, "Go for it, Yakumo!"

She nodded, making note of the fact that her sister and her friend's had arrived.

* * *

Ranma made his way to the school where he was supposed to be attending, remembering the excuse that Ukyo made for being unable to come with him.

'_Sorry, Ran-chan, but I think it's best if you stay away from Nabiki, why though, I don't know. Also, the faster I do this, the faster we can move here," she said with regret in her eyes._

'Damn girl, what the hell was she thinking? Saying my problems don't compare to hers, what an absolute-'

His single minded rant was cut off by the fact that he saw the school coming into view and so he leapt the rest of the way, seeing Hanai Haruki enter the school grounds. He perched himself on top of the wall with a great view of everything into the grounds and scouted out the school.

* * *

As Yakumo walked up to Harima, she could read quite a few trains of thoughts going around.

'Nani? Yakumo-kun, what are you doing?'

'This could be interesting…'

'Yakumo, gambatte!'

'What's she doing with Hige?'

'If what I think is right, she doesn't know what kind of trouble she's gonna cause…'

She pushed reading the thoughts out of her mind and spoke up.

"Ano…Harima-san?" The muscularly built man looked at her.

"What is it, Imouto-san?"

"Ano…Nee-san asked me to give you this…Happy Valentine's Day." She brandished the box chocolates for Harima to see.

As Harima eyed the box of chocolates, he glanced to the side of Yakumo, seeing Tenma in full blush.

Inner Harima Mindscape…

'T…this…'

Angels and Fairies flew around, Harima was dressed in a toga, receiving the gift of chocolate like it was from the gods themselves.

'THIS CHOCOLATE IS PROOF OF HOW MUCH TENMA-CHAN LOVES ME!'

Back in the land of reality…

"ARIGATO, IMOUTO-SAN!"

He proceeded to tear the chocolate wrapping off and devoured it.

"This is absolutely delicious! Arigato, Imouto-san!" 'And you too, Tenma-chan!'

In the background, a few things were happening. One, the general consensus of the school population was shock beyond all recognition. Quite a few jaws hit the ground. In particular, one, Hanai Haruki.

Inner Hanai Mindscape…

'No…no way… Yakumo…the purest goddess in this world, has given the school's delinquent, CHOCOLATE? Harima has corrupted the pure mind of Yakumo-kun for the LAST TIME! HE WILL PAY!'

Back in the real world…

"HARIMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

The bull cry Hanai gave out could've made most seasoned wrestlers piss their pants, crying for their mommies. Not Harima.

However, Ranma was shocked and he promptly fell onto the ground. Where a puddle lay. Just his luck.

As the dust around where Ranma-chan fell settled, Hanai looked to where the sound had originated from, only to find that his pigtailed goddess was dusting herself off.

'My pigtailed go-'

His train of thought was interrupted when his attention was drawn to a brightly coloured wrapper. And though it was the wrong day for girls to be getting gifts, his mind was clouded by rage and he assumed the worst.

"HARIMA! HOW DARE YOU CORRUPT THE PURE YAKUMO-KUN AND THE VALIANT PIGTAILED GIRL! I, HANAI HARUKI, DEFENDER OF JUSTICE, WILL SEE TO IT THAT YOU ARE PUNISHED!"

After saying the one minded monologue, he charged at Harima, who dodged the attack and they started a huge brawl.

Over where Tenma's group was, Sawachika Eri was trying to absorb what was going on.

'Wh-th-I-Did she just give him chocolate?' she thought, steamed. 'Why that…' she was steamed at the girl so much, she had a half mind to stomp right over there and give her a good punch. However, she remembered that said girl was her friend's sister.

Speaking, of which…

Tenma had no eyes for anyone but her Karasuma-kun. She gave him one look and the thought of giving him chocolate managed to permeate a blush on her permanently for the rest of the day.

Ranma-chan, though, got up and saw the sight in front of her and thought one thing.

'WTF?'

"Ranma?"

She looked around to see Kagome running towards her.

"What's happening?"

"Well, Yakumo over there gave one of the guys some chocolate and now…"

"Ah. Oh! Before I forget, Happy Valentine's Day, Ranma!" She held out a box of chocolates for Ranma-chan. "Though I don't think you want to start your first day as a girl."

"Damn idiot…" grumbled Ranma-chan. "Arigato, Kagome-chan!" He took the chocolates while reaching for his portable thermos before something ran into him.

To the fight in the center…

Hanai and Harima were duking it out like they had never before, but unfortunately, Hanai caught only one thing out of the corner of his eye.

He saw another girl giving her goddess chocolates.

This was the last thing he saw before being knocked out by Harima.

'My…pigtailed…goddess…'

"HAH! TAKE THAT!"

Unfortunately, Harima's celebration was cut off when a blur rushed past him and hit the person standing next to him.

Which happened to be Yakumo.

Back to where Kagome was…

She blinked as she saw Ranma take the chocolates from her hands before doing a disappearing act.

'Where'd he go?'

However, the answer soon revealed itself. Inuyasha had ran and charged at Ranma and he was now trying to find the chocolates that Miroku had mentioned to him before.

"Me before him, Kagome. Where's my chocolates?"

This blunt statement had left Kagome shocked and angered at the same time. She proceeded to do the first thing she thought of.

"OSUWARIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!"

Oh, boy, was she pissed.

"YOU #*^&%$ INSENSITIVE JERK! YOU DON'T JUST-" For all the good of the kiddies out there, let's just say she's been spending WAY too much time around Inuyasha. She looked at her handiwork and nodded before looking around to find Miroku and Sango with their jaws dropped open. She followed their line of sight and her own jaw dropped at the sight.

Rewind scene, Ranma's P.O.V. in third person…

'What the-' He didn't get further as he was pushed away but some unknown force and propelled through the air. He felt something happen and he felt his feminine treasures shrink, so he knew that the hot water had hit him. He also felt something in his hands, which meant he had managed to grab the chocolate before being shoved away by (he suspected) Inuyasha. He adjusted his flight to land on the ground, but he made one miscalculation.

There was someone in his flight path.

'Oh, shi-' he thought before plowing right into Yakumo. On instinct, he grabbed her frame and pulled her along with himself, letting his back take the brunt of the fall.

As he slammed into the ground, his head bucked forward. He couldn't tell, but he felt something soft and tasted something sweet, like strawberries.

Once his sight recovered, he looked in front of him and found red eyes staring back into his eyes and realized what he was doing.

He was kissing Tsukamoto Yakumo.

His eyes widened, but he made no intention to pull back. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw someone stir. In his mind, there was a war going on.

'Pull back, NOW!'

'But she tastes so sweet.'

'You love Akane, not HER!'

'But-'

'You're Akane's BOYFRIEND! ACT LIKE IT!'

Regrettably he pulled back and saw the look on her face. Both their faces were lit up like Christmas lights.

"Yakumo, gome-" He suddenly felt MURDEROUS intents on all sides of him. He sat up with Yakumo and found nearly all of the male population around him, cracking their knuckles, including Hanai Haruki and Harima Kenji.

'That man has betrayed Yakumo's purity for the LAST TIME!'

'For Tenma-chan, I fight!' thought Harima.

Otherwise, the general consensus for the males was: 'DIE! DIE! DIE!'

"GET HIM!"

In the words of a very famous chef on TV he saw once, Saotome Ranma thought one thing.

'Oh, f---.'

As they all converged on Ranma, Yakumo managed to run out of the way in time. Soon after, Ranma was getting pummeled without mercy, his screams ringing throughout the entire neighborhood. Everyone who heard him winced as one particularly horrid scream rang out.

He was soon ejected out of the fighting cloud and he landed on a seemingly insignificant piece of land just as Kaname and Sousuke was walking through the school gates.

Why is this important, you ask?

Note the keyword from the last sentence: SEEMINGLY.

For fans of FMP, you can usually bet that Sousuke had something hidden there.

No exceptions, this time around.

*KA-BOOM*

As the dust settled from the land mine that was placed there, it could be seen that Ranma was charred blacker than burnt food.

Kaname, putting two and two together, started yelling at Sousuke.

"HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU? THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS TERRORIST GROUPS IN JAPAN! IT IS ONE HUNDRED PERCENT SAFE HERE!"

However, Kagome and Yakumo ran up to the poor boy who had been hurt beyond all recognition. Miroku walked up next to Kagome and he said, "Would you like us to take you to the nurse's office, Ranma?"

"PLEASE!" he gasped out, barely able to say anything.

Sighing, he picked him up and put him one arm over his shoulder. Kagome went to help and put the other arm over her other shoulder and together, they followed Yakumo to the nurse, to where, hopefully, Anegasaki-sensei would work her magic to cure him.

Somewhere in the background, the bell went.

Foot-in-Mouth Disease: 3, Love: 3

(A/N: Um, WTF much?)

* * *

As the school day began, six of seven new students stood outside the classroom door of the most rowdiest homeroom in the school: 2-C.

However, Kagome was not worrying about going to a new school. Rather, she was worried about what had happened to Ranma that had warranted such a reaction from the male school population.

As Tani-sensei walked past the six of them (His mind was boggling: he had 10 new students to deal with, 7 of whom were coming in right now, not to mention the other 20 or so in his class (Note: any minor character's roles from School Rumble will be overplayed by the new characters). He knew he was in for big trouble), he said, "Make sure to give a good first impression." He then walked into the room.

As they six waited in silence, they heard footsteps across the hall. When they turned their heads, they saw Ranma waling towards them, looking as good as new.

"How are you, Ranma?" asked Kagome.

"Been better."

Just then, they heard a voice ring out from the room. "You can come in now."

They filed into the room in one straight line, looking impassive, save Inuyasha, who was smirking. They were soon facing the class.

"Well, why don't you introduce yourselves?" said Tani-sensei.

* * *

Ryoga and Akane were still training in the mountains, despite the day it was. Nearly 5 weeks and yet Akane had still not learnt the attack. She was still strapped into the makeshift rig.

'Why, why, WHY?' yelled Akane internally. 'Why can't I get a stupid attack that Ryoga and Ranma picked up? This is so INFURIATING!' As she thought, she punched the ground, creating a half a meter wide crater.

"Okay, Ryoga, once more!" she said.

"Alright! 3, 2, 1, GO!" And he let the rock fall.

'Use the mind's eye. Don't use your eyes; use the mind's eye…THERE!' "ARRGH!"

As she flew towards the rock, Ryoga closed his eyes, expecting to hear the smash of a girl against a boulder or a boulder being destroyed. *Smash* He opened his eyes. Yep, it was the boulder. That had been the last of the batch of boulders.

"Listen Akane, I'm not getting you anymore boulders. You are going to have to get them yourself."

"Fine you Jerk!" Akane yelled, and stormed off into the woods.

Ryoga sighed. He wasn't trying to be mean, but that had been his 15th batch, and he was getting tired of hauling them to the training ground from all over the mountain. Besides, it was all training in the end right?

* * *

Akane stomped her way through the forest. Her battle aura alone frightened away all the animals near her. As she stormed her way through, she came upon a cave.

'It's as good a place as any.' She decided. That decided, she stormed her way through the cave entrance, causing dust and bits of rock to fall from the already unstable ceiling. However, by a stroke of sheer luck, the ceiling held. She looked around and spotted a good boulder to her right. She stormed over and yanked on it.

It didn't budge. No matter how much she twisted, yanked, wiggled, jerked, or cursed, it stayed firmly lodged in the wall that it had only appeared to be leaning on. In a fit of rage, she Punched the wall around the boulder, hoping to loosen it up. This however, caused a cave in at the entrance(where the ceiling was weakest).

* * *

Ryoga heard a rumbling and jumped up. 'That's coming from the direction Akane went in!' He ran off to find her.

* * *

Akane cursed and coughed up a storm while the dust settled. When she could finally stop coughing enough to look around she saw… nothing. The cave-in blocked all the light. She remembered the entrance being somewhere to her right, and started off in that direction. She cursed when she ran smack into the cave-in and in her anger punched the boulder.

She actually managed to dislodge enough at the top to let some light in. Using said light, she looked around, but found nothing of use. Well, she wasn't getting through that pile up any time soon, it was granite all the way through, and she couldn't break through that. Ranma or Ryoga maybe, but not her.

She sat down in the light and pulled out her envelope, remembering how it got there.

_Flashback_

_Ranma and Akane were in the dojo right before Ryoga came to pick up Akane. Ranma pulled Akane into a loving kiss, and then held her face close and whispered as he slid something into her pocket, "Only use it if you truly cannot finish your training or if your life is in danger." As he finished this the door to the dojo opened._

_End Flashback_

'I'm sorry Ranma, I couldn't do it!' A few tears dropped on the envelope. She tore it open to find a package and a letter. She placed the package back in the envelope and set it aside for now. As she read more and more of the letter her eyes started to cloud with tears.

_Dear Akane,_

_I hope to Kami-sama that you never read this letter. That you can finish your training and you will return it to me sealed, never knowing the contents. If you are reading this letter, it means that either your life has been threatened or you wre not able to finish the training._

_With this letter is a small package which contains two packets of powder. Using a special technique taught to me by Herb-sensei, I have infused the powder with special gifts. The first contains all the chi I could spare stored up at the end of every day of the entire week before you left. The second…contains a copy of my memories of the Breaking Point training._

_To use them, simply mix them in water and drink. The powder should get absorbed through your tissue. In theory, you should be able to inhale it or rub it on your skin and still get the same effect, but please stay to the tried and proven method._

_Love Always,_

_Ranma_

About halfway through it had gotten difficult to read, and she had to stop and wait for the tears to clear. She took out the two packets and observed the labels. They were labeled #1 and #2. She got a little chuckle out of that. 'Ranma always did have an affinity for labels.'

She dumped both into her water bottle and drank the whole thing down, not sure how much she needed to ingest for the powder to work.

It wasn't like she had expected it to be, she experienced everything first hand. Everything Ranma saw, heard, tasted, smelled, felt, and thought was experienced first hand, as if it was her doing it. Ranma/her arriving. Ranma/her setting up camp. Ranma/her washing in a cold stream(Akane blush furiously here). Ranma/her practicing the technique. Finally grasping the concept. The feeling of triumph when Ranma/she broke the boulder. Not being able to wait to get home to Akane…

When she came to, she was laying on the ground. As she stood up it was like she got hit with a tidal wave of energy. Her whole body flooded with power, and she felt like she could take on the entire Hentai Squad… no… the entire school, without breaking a sweat. She turned to the pile of boulders and( and this may have been a side effect of Ranma's still fading memories) she gave it one of Ranma's trademark cocky grins. She did a few stretches and then prepared to do the Breaking Point at Amaguriken speed.

* * *

Ryoga was running through the forest yelling Akane's name when a cave near by exploded outward. Ryoga took up his martial arts stance as he turned toward the cave entrance, despite the hail of razor sharp stone chips(hey that could be an attack). As the dust settled, Akane's figure appeared, her fist still exteneded, and she was breathing heavily.

"Akane, you did it!" Akane hung her head slightly as they both started back to camp.

"umm…right" ' But I didn't really do it, it was Ranma. Damnit, why aren't I strong enough.' Ryoga meanwhile, was throwing stuff into his pack and hastily cleaning up camp.

"Hurry Akane, if we are fast we may make it back in time for Red Day(AKA Valentine's Day)."

* * *

Lunchtime came around and 2-C had a rather memorable beginning, if it can be called that.

Ranma was on the roof with his bento, alone.

'Man, what a day! That mess at the beginning of the day, then Sousuke's gun getting discovered, not to mention his smoke and flash grenades, Inuyasha losing it after someone from that stupid hentai club tried to hit on Kagome and, finally, me, having to show my FREAKIN' curse in front of the whole class!'

However, he soon sensed a familiar presence as Tsukamoto Yakumo walked onto the roof with her bento. She opened the door and looked surprised that he was already there.

"Yakumo," said Ranma, blushing. She mirrored the same expression, shade for shade.

"Ano, gomen, Ranma-san," she said, backing out.

"You can stay, you know. I can't stop you from being here," Ranma continued.

However, Yakumo only heard the first part as she thought about what he really said.

'He…he said…he wanted me to stay…does that mean…' She thought about the chocolates in her bag, relived that no one else was there to watch them. "Ano…Ranma-san…"

He looked up, not quite looking into her eyes. "Nani?"

"H-h-happy Valentine's Day…" she said, holding up a box of chocolates.

Ranma could only stare at the girl. Not wanting to see her cry, he did the only thing comprehendible.

"Arigato, Yakumo," he said, accepting the gift. Inside, Yakumo's heart was fluttering.

However, this event would soon put Yakumo's life in danger (Nice bit of foreshadowing here).

* * *

Foot-in-Mouth Disease: 3, Love: 4

* * *

Sawachika Eri was still trying to find the best way to slip Harima the chocolates when her friend, Suou Mikoto, walked up to Hanai Haruki with a slight blush on her face.

"Oi, Hanai," she said, grabbing the man's attention.

"Here, Happy Valentine's Day," she said.

"Oh, arigato, Suou. What a perfect way to celebrate our friendship!" he said, holding the chocolate like a trophy.

However, clearly, every person could see that she was rejected, even unintentionally.

"A-ah," she managed to get out, before turning away.

Eri wished the best for her friend, but she also had pressing matters to deal with as she to find a way to sneak the currently sleeping rebel her gift.

However, he stirred and woke up, rubbing his eyes and walking out of the room.

'Now!' she thought and made to run out of the room.

As she followed him out of the room, he walked to the drinking fountains and started taking a long drink of water. She soon heard him mutter some words.

"Damn Itoko, not giving me any spending money this month, I'll get her…" he grumbled.

Eri was struck with a brain wave. 'Th-that's it!' "Oi, Hige!"

He heard her and turned around to see her. "Nani, Ojou?" he said, rather annoyed.

"Hey, what's with that?"

"If you've got nothing better to do, then leave me alone."

'Why that little…' "Fine, then, guess you won't be wanting this chocolate."

As Harima realized what this meant (a free meal), he began to weigh up the pros and cons. Namely, his pride or his stomach.

However, as he stomach grumbled, he decided his body needed food and so he swallowed his pride. "Fine."

"What was that?" she said maliciously.

"Please, can I have the chocolate?" he said.

"Catch." She threw it and he caught it, tore open the wrapper and hungrily ate it.

Once he was finished, he wrapped up the packaging and put it into his pocket. "Thanks." He walked off.

She was blushing at what had transpired. She didn't move until the warning bell sounded.

* * *

Miroku and Sango were enjoying a leisurely walk in the gardens that surrounded them. They walked around the trees and flowers that were in full bloom.

"Well, Sango, this is certainly quite a change. To what do I owe this pleasure?" Miroku asked.

"W-well…" She brandished a small package. "Here. Happy Valentine's Day."

Miroku seemed utterly pleased when he saw the package. "Oh, Sango, you sure do know how to make this monk happy," he said, taking her hand.

Sango was gaily happy that he had accepted the gift. That is, of course, until she felt something complete foreign, yet familiar to her.

"YOU PERVERT!" she yelled, slapping him in the face.

"What did I do?" he said.

"ARGGH!" She stalked off, fuming, but decided to ignore that it never happened.

* * *

Foot-in-Mouth Disease: 4, Love: 5 (both did happen there, so I have no choice but to add points to both)

* * *

Inuyasha and Kagome were in the corridors, meandering around with no specific direction in their heads. However, the mood was far from polite. Kagome was still mad at what had happened that morning.

Inuyasha was remembering the words that Miroku had spoken to him just before lunch had finished.

'_If you really want Kagome to not hate you, you better apologize.'_

'But for what? I don't think I've done anything wrong. I only pushed Ranma outta the way to get my chocolate.'

(A/N: *Sweat drops*)

'Well, better get it out of the way,' he thought. "Kagome-"

"Save it, Inuyasha. I bet you don't even know what you're apologizing for," she said, angrily.

"Kagome, I really am sorry. For pushing Ranma out of the way," he said. 'It's the only thing I can think of anyway.'

Kagome froze. "D-do you mean it?"

Inuyasha looked dumbfounded. "Of course I do!" A second later, Inuyasha was engulfed in a hug.

"Thank you, Inuyasha!"

'What the hell?' However, Inuyasha soon smelt a familiar package.

"Happy Valentine's Day!" she said exuberantly. And with that admission, she kissed him passionately.

'Screw ramen and screw chocolate, this is the best!' he thought.

* * *

Foot-in-Mouth Disease: 4, Love: 6

Fourth last one, people!

* * *

"So, is that all, Miss Kuonji, Miss Tendo?"

"Yes, I believe so," said Nabiki.

"Okay, if you'll just sign here, you'll be able to move in immediately," said their attendant, holding out a clipboard and pen. Nabiki took it, and after ten minutes of reading, gave it to Ukyo to sign, who did so happily.

"I can't believe it! Ramen and Okonomiyaki Ucchan's now has two stores!" she squealed happily.

"Well, with me as your financial adviser AND accountant, you can't go wrong," she said, snapping the signed contract into her briefcase.

"Well, I hope Mousse and Konatsu can take care of the Nerima store. I need to get things started here with Ryoga, Akane and Ran-chan!" she said joyously.

"Alright, calm down, Ukyo. Wait till everyone gathers together, then tell the good news."

Ukyo nodded. "But first, we need Ranma so we can go home together."

'Regrettably,' thought Nabiki.

* * *

School had finished for the day and Ranma decided to take the express way out: through the window. Naturally, most were surprised at this, but made no comment.

Ranma had reached the gate of the school when he saw both Ukyo and Nabiki.

"Ran-chan!" yelled Ukyo.

"What's up? How did the negotiations go?" asked Ranma.

"We can move in this WEEK!" she said, yelling out the last part to the world. "All thanks to Nabiki."

"Thanks, Nabiki," said Ranma rather formally, trying to at least be courteous.

She nodded, but made no other move to acknowledge him. "We better get back, Ukyo."

Ukyo said, "Alright, then. Let's go."

The three walked off into the distance, intent on going back to Nerima, hopefully for the last time (for two of them).

* * *

Sousuke and Kaname were walking back to their new home, following a different path than what the other four friends were taking (WacDonalds). They were currently walking through a park.

"Miss Chidori, I am not so sure why you have been so angry with me. So, if there is anything I can do, please say it."

Naturally, Sousuke had tried to get on Kaname's good side again by doing what he did best: groveling in his…er…unique fashion.

"If you want me to do anything, whether it be eliminating a an enemy, blowing up some place you hate, I'll gladly do it for-"

*whap*

'Man, I don't even have the heart to hit him anymore,' thought Kaname.

"You've been acting very strangely today, Kaname, ever since you tried to explain what this 'Valentine's Day is,'" said Sousuke.

"You just don't get it, do you?" she said.

"Get what?"

"Valentine's Day is a day for expressing love. How you love someone. You do things for them like taking them out for a movie or a giving them gifts."

"Like this?"

Kaname looked at Sousuke and she gasped.

He was holding a rose in his hands.

"A-arigato," she stuttered. "But that's what White Day is for." She pulled out the package which she had been meaning to give to him. "Here."

As Sousuke cautiously opened the package, he took a small bite. "This is good."

"Well of course it's good!" exclaimed Kaname. "I made it!"

"Really? I should've known your cooking skills were top notch."

'That ignorant baka,' she thought blissfully.

* * *

Foot-in-Mouth Disease: 4, Love: 7

* * *

As Ranma, Ukyo and Nabiki stepped off the train, there was a surprise that awaited them.

Ryoga and Akane stood there, dressed up appropriately for the occasion.

"Akane!"

"Ryoga!"

Akane and Ukyo ran to their respective lovers and kissed them deeply.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Ryoga," said Ukyo, before kissing him again.

"Happy Valentine's Day, Ranma," said Akane. "This is for thinking I would need help." So saying, she hit him over the head with a mallet. Before he could start grumbling about tomboys she said, "And this," she grabbed his face and pulled it closer, "is for saving my life." She kissed him so passionately that all the men present were suffering from nose bleeds, not to mention extremely jealous of a certain pigtailed martial artist.

Ranma's mind raced to his kiss with Yakumo. 'Better not tell her that, otherwise, she'll lose it. Besides, why ruin this romantic atmosphere. I'll have to talk to Ryoga and find out what the hell happened back there.'

"Well, let's go out and eat!" said Akane, Ryoga voicing his agreement to it.

"Well, why not?" said Ranma. The four walked off, leaving the fifth member of their group behind.

Nabiki was looking at her companions wistfully. 'They look so happy.' However, she soon pushed those thoughts out of her head as she remembered she had a contract to look up.

* * *

Foot-in-Mouth Disease: 4, Love: 9

* * *

"Has everything been set up?" asked a voice.

The room was completely bathed in darkness, except for the person at whom the question was being directed at.

"Yes, Lord Shishio."

"Good…" 'And now, we wait…'

* * *

The seeds of discontent have been planted. All we need to do now is water and wait.

The last part is a part of the story. And now, to more pressing matters.

21 pages (not including this last part) or 7000 words. You guys had better appreciate this!

For those of you who are wondering why I haven't released the final Ranma pairing in this story, I have done this for a reason, which will come out at around Chapter 20 or so.

This story will more than likely be longer than TOWORT, possibly 35 – 40 chapters, 50 if I wrap everything up without an epilogue.

The next part is some mindless rambling which I felt like writing. Don't have to read, but if you do, at least comment on it.

Now, to something which hits closer to home (for me, at least). The Victorian Bushfires in Australia was, literally, about a 50 minute drive from where I live. That's not too far from where I live, considering that some of the flames could travel about 20km in a matter of minutes. Yes, it is that fast.

As for the statistics, 181 people lie dead, with fears that this number could rise to more than 300. Around 20 fires continue to burn, with 7000 people homeless, living in tent cities, thanks to about 2000 homes getting destroyed. Around 330000ha of land has been destroyed (a hectare is a 10000 X 10000 m piece of land) and, to my knowledge, two entire towns completely obliterated and wiped off the map. One of the towns, Marysville, was actually a town that my school planned to visit, for a Year 12 retreat. Thankfully, it was still a couple of weeks off, but it was too close for comfort.

However, the most infuriating part, though, is that the fires were deliberately lit. That's right, full blown arson. A specific fire is threatening (note the present tense) two towns, with people being asked to fight or flee.

The fires were so vast, the army had to be called in to help assess the damages. A temporary morgue has been set up to accommodate the bodies which can't fit into our current morgue. What's worse, the bodies may take up to a year to identify. Ash Wednesday in the 1980's couldn't be compared to this, when 70 people died in those fires. One particular analogy was 'Ash Wednesday, that was a barbecue. This was a fire.' Ash Wednesday was, until last week, the worst bushfires in Australia's history and one of the worst in World History.

However, there is some good news. People's generosity has been really overwhelming: convoys of food, water, clothes and supplies have been delivered, nearly AUD$28 million dollars being donated for the relief effort (whether this is from the corporate companies and citizens or citizens alone, I am not sure. Corporate Companies have put forward quite a bit: the 5 major banks here have donated AUD$1 million each, both our State and Federal Government have given AUD$15 million each and more) and people giving up their time to help out.

We have reinforcements from interstate and overseas, New Zealand, most prominently, providing firefighters and equipment. Stories of survival, heroism and heartfelt reunions are absolutely inspiring.

The weather here, though, has been quite strange. Whilst fires have ravaged South East Australia, North Eastern and North Western Australia has been ravaged with cyclones and floods. Strange, but true.

Well, that's it for now. I just have one thing to say: please review to let me know you actually reading I would like to see what you think about this disaster and see what other countries have to say about this. Also, your comments about this story do spur me on. Thanks!

HitokiriHERO


	9. Leaving Nerima

Chapter 9: Leaving Nerima

Disclaimer: I don't Ranma ½, Inuyasha, School Rumble or Full Metal Panic. They are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, Kobayashi Jin and Shinji Gatou.

* * *

Well, this is rather disappointing. 7000 words of blood, sweat and frustration and the only thing I get is one lousy review (not that I am belittling said review: thanks to cabrera1234!). What a let down… If you guys don't like the story, then tell me, because I have other ideas. I've got something in my head relating to Kingdom Hearts. Or, SOSN could be my new priority.

Also, sorry about the delay, but I have school, which is absolutely killing me. Also, I have taken on beta-ing another story, in addition to another story which I will not be commenting about.

Well, putting that aside, we're past the boring part now. This chapter onwards, we get down to the nitty gritty. However, this chapter is another filler, but it's necessary. There are only one or two parts which are really important here. So, to compensate I tried my hand at humor, but I'm pretty sure it's crap. just tell me whether it is funny.

For those of you who are wondering, this story will take place in the School Rumble storyline with my touch on it. The first arc: the School Athletics Carnival.

By the way, another jump here, but it's just 1 whole day. Nothing significant here.

* * *

Morning in Nerima saw the ending of one chapter and the beginning of another for Saotome Ranma. As he rose, he eyed the sleeping bulge of fur that sat next to him. He was thinking that his father would've given him one last 'send off.' Apparently not.

*BAM*

Apparently so.

As Ranma flew out the window, he wondered when his father had gotten so skilled at making replacements of himself.

When he neared the koi pond, he remembered that he was thinking about Saotome Genma, and that nothing about him was normal.

As he landed in the pond, she leapt out of the shallow pool and shook herself off. Leaping up to the window, she pulled out the clothes that she had laid out earlier last night. She had packed all her worldly possessions into her pack (not that she had many) and couldn't help but wonder that something was off.

Then she remembered that her father was supposed to have jumped her by now.

*WHAM*

As she flew into the pond the second time, she saw that Tendo Soun was up, reading the paper with bleary eyes and a cup of coffee in his hands. This would mean that Kasumi was in the kitchen, making breakfast.

However, for an update on current, threatening things, the panda jumped her.

"That's IT, OLD MAN, YOU'RE GOIN' DOWN!"

*Ranma, you've been getting* *FLIP* *too soft, especially when training with* *FLIP* * Herb. I expected better from my* * FLIP* *lousy, ungrateful*

*SMASH*

"ARE YOU GONNA FIGHT OR ARE YOU GONNA STAND THERE ALL DAY?"

*SMASH*

"HELLO, RANMA? PEOPLE TRYIN TO SLEEP, AROUND HERE!"

'Yikes. Forgot about the cranky tomboy in the morning who's crazier than a cow who's PMS-ing.'

"I HEARD THAT!"

*CRASH*

As the second mallet crashed into Ranma's head, you people might be wondering how she could still be thinking these thoughts. Only one solution comes to mind.

Saotome Foot in Mouth Disease. (Logical thinking is required to find figure out the true reason. But, if you're not one of said people, read the bottom note. However, there is an element of spoiler to it)

However, this scene was soon to be intruded upon, as the arrival of two people saw that the guests are attended to.

Hibiki Ryoga and Kuonji Ukyo looked at the scene, not surprised in the least that Ranma-chan had been knocked out. Taking pity, Ryoga took the kettle from Kasumi's hands with and abrupt 'Thank you' and threw the contents on Ranma-chan. They put down two packages and both had a layer of sweat on their faces.

Whilst the water had been boiled, in the words of Saotome Genma when he arrived at the dojo for the first time, 'It needn't be quite that hot.'

"YEAAARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!"

As scalding hot water met unprotected skin, Ranma yelled like the apocalypse had come early. Which would, if you had boiling water poured on you.

Immediately, Ranma used the Soul of Ice to cool the water down. Once it was reduced to a considerable temperature, he shook himself off and used his ki to heal the burns. Once he was finished, Ranma calmly walked into the kitchen, ignoring everyone else. When he returned a few moments later, he came out with a cup of hot water and dumped the contents on Ryoga.

Needless to say, a second scream pierced the morning, waking everyone within a 200 mile radius up better than 100 cups of coffee. And for brain dead people in the mornings, that's quite a wake up call.

Grumbling down the stairs, Akane and Nabiki's eyes were wide open, as if they had been up for a number of hours.

"Thanks a lot, Ranma. Now I'm wide awake without a chance for beauty sleep," said Akane grumpily.

"Why should a tomboy like you need beauty sleep?" said Ranma.

"Ranm-"

"You're cute enough already." (*HH retches*)

This effectively put Akane in a much brighter mood.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Ranma. I must have forgotten to add some cold water to cool it down," said Kasumi.

"That's alright, Kasumi, though you usually don't forget," said Ranma. "Ah, well. Time for breakfast."

Though Ryoga and Ukyo tried to politely decline, they were coerced into eating with the family. As the traditional food fight raged on (for the last time), the head of the house's waterworks were on full blast, working overtime. You can kinda imagine how this would be like (Wonder how the place doesn't get flooded? Ah well, it's fanfiction, not physics). Kasumi had the beaming smile on her serene face and Nabiki was going the financial details once more.

"Alright then, after breakfast, Akane and Ukyo will leave Nerima via train whilst Ryoga and Ranma take the scenic route."

This got Ranma's attention. "'Scenic route?'"

"Well, why waste resources when the means to do so are perfectly available?" said Nabiki.

"Resources? Means?"

"You and Ryoga are going to carry the furniture from the Ucchan from here to Yagami. It's not much, just a few wardrobes, some futons, all of your luggage and what not."

Silence met this idea.

"Carry the furniture?" said Ryoga.

"Well, it'll give you some exercise and Ukyo will save money. Nothing too bad there, no? And, because of this idea, instead of paying for a truck and four train tickets, all you need are two tickets. Ukyo and Akane have to be there to help set everything up. Legal stuff. And, judging from my calculations, if you go at your normal pace, you'll be there by midday."

"Also, Mousse and Konatsu have the upper level to themselves, meaning they can move in there. Hope you don't mind, Ukyo."

"Of course," said Ukyo.

"Wait. We have to carry the furniture? I thought we were gonna hire a taxi and have them transport us and the packages at the same time." said Ranma.

"Of course. Anything wrong?" said Nabiki coolly.

"No," replied Ranma with a clenched jaw.

"Well then, that should be that," she said, shuffling up the papers.

As breakfast finished, Kasumi put away the dishes in time to see her sister and fiancé and her friends off, along with Nabiki, her father and Mr. Saotome.

This time, waterworks were accompanied with wailing.

"WAHHHHHHH! My baby daughter is going off to see the big city!"(Wail no. 4,861,203)

Everyone sweat dropped at the sight of the grown man crying (Wouldn't you?).

"Dad, I'll be fine! And it's not Tokyo, it's Yagami, just the next prefecture over," said Akane hurriedly.

*Well, boy, I hope you* *FLIP* *hold onto her. You better not* *FLIP* * be seeing another girl!*

'This way, I'll still have my retirement fund.'

Ranma looked at the panda like he was mad. "You make it sound like I'm gonna cheat on Akane. Which I am not going to do."

As he strapped his load of the luggage onto his back, Akane said, "I'll do it!"

Ranma stared at her. "No, you won't."

"I can so, Ranma!"

"No you can't, Akane. You wouldn't even be able to lift this, let alone walk all the way there with it."

"Let me do this!"

Ranma shrugged and he put the package on the ground. With quite a bit of effort, she lifted the package.

And dropped it back down.

'What the? Alright, once more!'

And dropped it.

'AGAIN!'

And dropped it.

'AGAIN!'

And, well, you see the point, right?

"ARGH!" She stomped around like a huge gorilla.

"Told ya you couldn't," said Ranma, hefting the package onto his back once more. "It's been vacuum packed with ki, so it looks heavier than usual. There are all the cooking utensils, the stove, and various supplies in here. Probably about 3 tonnes: there's a lot in here to be cramped into such a small space."

Everyone, save Ukyo and Ryoga, stared at Ranma. "What?"

"3 tonnes? Isn't that a little excessive?" said Akane.

"Not at all, dear sister," said Nabiki.

"It's true. Okonomiyaki does have lots of ingredients. And, the hot plates in there must weigh half a ton each," said Ukyo thoughtfully (This is not just the plate on top of the counter, these include the heaters. Obviously dismantled).

"Well, time to get going," said Ranma.

And so, Ranma, Akane, Ryoga and Ukyo turned out, and walked off into distance, their family and friends watching from behind.

* * *

"Well, we're here," said Ukyo.

They were at the train station, standing outside like a motley crew. Ranma and Ryoga were panting, slightly.

However, Akane was very silent on the way here.

'Why?' she thought. 'Why can't I do anything? Why am I so weak?'

'I want to get stronger! I want to get faster! But Ranma has stopped my training for something he has to do. Why can't he do it at another time? I have to get stronger!'

"Akane!"

She shook herself out of her stupor. "What?"

Ukyo held out a piece of paper. "Here's your train ticket."

Internally, Akane was fuming. However, she managed a straight face. "Why'd you do that? I could've bought myself." 'That bitch, I don't need her charity!'

"Don't worry! You can pay me back later!"

Though Ukyo was clueless, Ranma and Ryoga could easily pick up her anger. They exchanged a glance, but didn't say anything further, watching her retreating back from a distance.

'Probably one of those girl things,' thought Ranma.

"Well, we'll see you there," said Ukyo brightly.

"Yeah, yeah," said Ranma, hefting the package onto his back. "Well, buddy? You coming or what?"

"Right behind ya, Ranma," said Ryoga, walking alongside with him.

As they walked off into the distance and disappeared, Akane came back, having vented all her anger without violence.

"Ra-" She stopped and looked around. "Where's Ranma?" she asked.

Ukyo looked at her sheepishly. "They just left, Akane."

Her anger burned once more. 'That idiot! He didn't even say goodbye to me!' (Technically, it's not goodbye, just 'see you soon.' Just thought I'd clarify that)

"Let's go, Ukyo, otherwise we'll miss our train," she said through her clenched jaw.

"Uhh…sure," she said, sweat dropping.

"NIHAO!"

No need to say who this is.

"Shampoo come see airen off," she stated in her broken Japanese. Honestly, one would think after being in Japan for a few years that she would have picked up the language. After all, one of the things Ranma suggested was that she actually clean up her Japanese. Akane, who was already at her limit, snapped.

"For the last time Shampoo, Ranma is not going to marry you!"

Shampoo didn't seem fazed by this. Turning to Ukyo she asked, "Where airen?"

"He just left for Yagami. He and Ryoga were toting our stuff to my new restaurant, where we will be staying.

"Thank you!" With a bow, Shampoo was off to follow Ranma. She was slightly slowed by the mallet that was swung towards her, but she merely turned it aside with a bonbori.

'Damn it, even Shampoo!' Akane happened to catch sight of a wall clock.

"Crap, we are gonna miss our train!" That said, both rushed towards the platform, neither noticing the small figure watching them from atop a staff. A pair of eyes gleaned in the shadows.

* * *

The actual explanation for this is that their love has not been cemented yet. For them, there was too much pressure. Fiancés, parents, rivals, love interests and just the plain general craziness has already damaged the relationship beyond repair. Obviously, I could turn a blind eye to this and go in the opposite direction if wanted R X A, but this isn't.

Guys, just review to let me know that you are reading: it's more reassuring than reading the 'visited' graphs. Right now, I'm thinking all my main readers have deserted me and it's scaring the crap outta me!


	10. The Arrival

Chapter 10: The Arrival

Disclaimer: I don't Ranma ½, Inuyasha, School Rumble or Full Metal Panic. They are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, Kobayashi Jin and Shinji Gatou.

* * *

Okay, thanks for the reviews people. I've stopped hyperventilating. I really needed that booster.

As for my incorrigible silence, I have not forgotten about this story. Instead, I have been doing the one thing I thought I would never be doing.

I am planning the storyline.

I never thought I would ever be doing this. But, I suppose it does help: remember from TOWORT that the story happened in different arcs?

To recap, here they are: Nerima Arc (The one week spent in Nerima), Sengoku Jidai Arc (500 years in the past), Shiro Higurashi Arc (no need to explain here) and the aftermath.

These ideas came to me one at a time, which is kinda why they were broken into these separate parts. Crossover High will follow a similar structure, though I highly hope avoiding this path.

As such, over the next few weeks, the silence from me will mean that I'll be altering the storyline where applicable.

But enough rambling. Let's get this show on the road!

* * *

As Ukyo and Akane stepped off the train, they found that they had a considerable walk to make to get to their new residence. Thankfully, however, pulling some strings, Nabiki arranged for a pair of bikes to be placed outside the station for their use. After all, they weren't in Nerima and Akane couldn't roof hop (at least, efficiently: 'Japan's biggest klutz' would be Ranma's 'nice way' of putting it).

When they got halfway to their new residence, they saw a huge, red, familiar building. Akane and Ukyo saw it and knew that it meant one thing.

The Nekohanten had moved to Yagami.

Infuriated, Akane got off her bike and stormed to the door, only to dodge at the last second when Shampoo came out, holding her takeout delivery box.

"Hmm? What pervert girl and spatula girl doing here?"

"I think the more appropriate question is what are YOU doing here?" yelled Akane.

"Ah, Shampoo hear Ranma come down here. So, great grandmother and Shampoo come here to open up."

"Weren't you going home?" asked Ukyo suspiciously. She now had decent competition for her food.

"Shampoo said so, but great grandmother said we come here instead."

Akane was infuriated at this and tried to charge at Shampoo. However, Ukyo held the girl in place.

"Not now, Akane."

Shampoo, though, took no notice of this and said, "Shampoo go make delivery now. BYE BYE!" Shampoo jumped onto her bike and rode off.

With the Chinese Amazon bimbo gone, Ukyo let go of Akane. "Akane, you need to calm down a bit."

"Calm down? CALM DOWN? ARE YOU OUTTA YOUR MIND? SHE'S HERE FOR RANMA! I'M NOT GONNA LET HER TAKE HIM!"

"Come one, let's go to the restaurant. We need to go set up."

And so, with that annoyance out of the way, Akane and Ukyo climbed back onto their bikes and rode off down the street.

* * *

Ranma and Ryoga made good time across the countryside, running into the town with their luggage whilst sheens of sweat covered their brows.

To pass the time, Ranma and Ryoga made it a competition to see who could get into town first. Naturally, this meant they had run across the countryside, leaving behind a not so noticeable (NOT!) trail of destruction.

Ranma, whilst running, had thought of a new idea for his school of ki based attacks and decided to try pumping ki into his legs to help boost his strength and power. Surprisingly, it had worked and Ranma thought of it as a potential idea for the school. However, Ranma would soon nearly discard the idea after feeling its would include nausea, sore legs and, well, a lot of general hurt.

But, that's then and this is now. Right now, Ranma had managed to win the race by a hair's breadth (Ryoga was a sizable tank) and had taken bragging rights. At least, until they heard something in a distant alleyway.

As they walked into the dank and wet place, they heard the sounds of fighting. Moments later, a body flew in front of them as the last bit of fighting cleared up.

"Damn…you…Hari…Mc…Ken…ji…" was the last words of the man before passing out.

'Harima Kenji?' thought Ranma.

As the dust settled, they saw a blond haired man with red shades, standing in front of a yellow bike. He dressed richly, with a red leather jacket and white pants. (going from memory here, people)

"You're not Harima Kenji!" yelled Ranma incredulously. However, before he could reply, a shout was heard from behind him.

(And now, it's time for a bit canon material)

"HARIMA KENJI!"

Everyone looked around to see Hanai Haruki bulldozing himself towards the group, dressed in his gi.

As he stopped in front of the group, he finally saw the people standing. However, he only recognized one.

"Saotome Ranma! Where is Harima?"

"Don't look at me. I haven't seen him all day."

"Why does everyone keep saying it wrong?" The three martial artists looked at the man, who relaxed.

"It is not 'Harima Kenji.' It's Harry McKenzie." (In Japanese, 'zi' is pronounced as 'ji' or as 'zi'. Obviously, to keep in line with the gags, it's pronounced 'ji')

Hanai's mouth dropped open as he realized his mistake.

"You knew me and called, did you not?"

Hanai looked at him, dumbfounded. However, Harry McKenzie took no notice and continued.

"But, young man, when you ask someone for their name, you must first introduce yours. Is that not the proper manner in this country?"

Realizing his mistake, he started sweating. "Er…my name is Hanai Haruki. Tell me this. Did you do all this?" he asked, looking around at the carnage.

'No shit, Sherlock,' thought Ranma and Ryoga.

Harry continued. "I wanted to settle this peacefully. But Japanese people are so aggressive. They almost hurt themselves really badly."

"But that is strange," Hanai began before Ranma spoke out.

"Not bad. Nearly all their joints have been dislocated and their hips are seriously injured. Couldn't have done better myself."

'You flatter yourself, Ranma,' thought Ryoga, sweat dropping.

"Normal gang fights wouldn't go that far, Saotome," said Hanai

At this point, Ranma turned to look at the pair.

"Name's Saotome Ranma. That's Hibiki Ryoga," he said, pointing at the boy.

"Oh? How about this? Would you believe that I single handedly defeated them all?"

"Well, I didn't think it would go this far…"

"Right? That's just not possible! Not possible! No way!" He soon burst into laughter.

Hanai scratched his head in a Ranma-nesque way, before being forced to defend from Harry's oncoming attacks. Luckily, after the first few punches, Hanai managed a counter attack throwing a punch that stopped Harry from attacking.

"Not bad," said Ryoga.

'T-this guy…' thought Hanai.

"Oh? Hold on a second. A lady is watching," Harry said.

"Oh? Yakumo?" said Ranma.

"Saotome-san, Hanai-senpai!"

Hanai looked around and saw the red-eyed girl looking at their gathering.

'Yakumo?' thought Ryoga. 'Where's the honorific?'

"Y-Y-Yakumo-kun! There's a really good explanation for this…rather, what are you doing this?" he asked, changing the subject halfway his statement.

"Eh, umm, well I was working at my part time job and…"

Harry, though, walked up to her and placed his hands on her shoulders, grabbing her attention. "Excuse me, miss, this place is dangerous. Please step back."

Hanai, infuriated at what he saw, yelled angrily, "Why you…Very well! I will fight you! You shameless bastard!"

"Hmm. You marked my words!"

The standoff went on for a few seconds before Ranma looked to the side.

'This can't be good…'

"Yo, I'm here!"

This statement was enough to attract everyone's attention. However, running through Hanai's head was some rather 'disturbing' thoughts.

'Harima and Yakumo, having a rendezvous?'

However, Harima was only interested in the envelope in his hands, which was hurriedly hidden behind his back.

"Eh? Er, this is not what you think it is!"

"Then why have you come here? To this empty, back alley? Answer me!" said Hanai, flaring his aura.

'He better give a good answer,' thought Ranma.

"Er…actually, the reason is…" 'Crap, hold on, Kenji! If you tell him now, he will find out about your manga! And he is the last person you want to find out!'

Harima regained his composure and said, "What else? To kick your ass!"

'I knew it…' Ranma thought, face palming.

"I like your determination. I will show you the results of my training!"

"Hey, hey…" started Harry.

As Harry kept the boys busy, Ranma ran up to Yakumo and said, "Back off a little bit. Things are gonna get messy."

She nodded and backed up against the wall, looking at the unfolding scene. However, when Harima was carelessly knocked down by Harry and knocking down the envelope, she ran forward, exclaiming, "Ah! The manuscript!"

'Manuscript?' thought Ranma.

Ryoga just stood there, wondering if he was actually a part of this.

However, Harima jut said, "Don't pick that up, Imouto-san. YOU PICK THAT UP, YOU BASTARD!"

Harima charged at Harry, throwing all-or-nothing punches. Harry, though, dodged all of them.

"You have good punches." *DODGE* "But they mean nothing if it doesn't connect!" Harima, in response, leapt at him and flew into a flying kick, Bruce Lee style.

'What?' thought Harry. 'This guy…'

Harry then then let Harima fall to the ground and started a roundhouse kick at Harima, only to be blocked by Hanai.

"I'm your opponent, am I not?" he said.

Ranma used this moment to run to the fallen papers on the ground and pick them up.

'What the? Is this manga?' Ranma then looked at the signature. 'Harima Hario. How original.' He replaced the papers and gave them to Yakumo.

"Interesting…" said Harry. "And I thought there were no more samurai in this country…never mind."

As Harima stood up, the reason for this obscure statement was unveiled. The beret he had been wearing underneath revealed a bald head.

"I see you've noticed it. What's wrong? Why have you stopped?"

Hanai, looking at him, backed up against the wall, horrified.

"It's too late to back down, now that you have seen my power." His head gleamed in the sun.

'Is this the renowned samurai?' thought Harry, surprised. 'So shiny!'

Yakumo, though, took no notice and picked up his hat and offered it to him.

Hanai, though, had other thoughts. 'This baldy, Yakumo-kun? Is it this baldy? That stole your heart?'

Harima let out a bull-like roar, charging at him. However, Harry continued to dodge.

As Harima continued to fight, some of the garbage bins flew into the air and fell towards Yakumo.

'Ah!' Yakumo shielded herself, expecting it to hit her. It didn't come.

Instead, Ranma was in front of her, arm outstretched, holding the bin with his palm.

"Now look, I don't know why you're fighting here. But if you are gonna fight, at least do so in a place where you won't hurt innocent bystanders," said Ranma.

All in all, a very rushed scene of events took place, Ryoga deduced. His carefully trained eyes saw Hanai charge at Harima for endangering Yakumo. Right after that, more bits of loose things flew towards Yakumo. Ranma used Amaguriken speed to block all the oncoming projectiles. One of which included a garbage bin with garbage water in it.

As Ranma-chan looked at herself, she said, "Ah well, coulda been worse."

A garbage lid hit her in the face.

"THAT'S IT! WHO WANTS SOME OF THIS?" she yelled, leaping into the fray.

As the contenders fought against each other, Yakumo looked bewildered. Ryoga was puzzled as to how a simple meeting to discuss the contents of the envelope could to turn into an all out brawl between three men and a transgender girl.

Maybe Nerima was taking a hike into Yagami.

Then again, maybe not.

The victor saw the three boys walking off with mere bruises. After Ranma-chan had given each boy a thorough ass-kicking, she 'politely' asked each to leave. Whilst this may be incredulous, note the 'politely' had been 'EXTRA polite.' If you get my drift.

"Oh!"

Hanai looked at the Ryoga. "Whilst I may not like to do this, I till have my duties to uphold. If you see Saotome, tell him to come into school. We have the Athletics Carnival selections coming up." He then walked off without a glance towards Ranma-chan, probably because of his tattered pride. Harima and Yakumo soon left together, probably to discuss their manga. Harry just roared away with his bike.

When Ranma-chan pulled out her thermos, Ryoga asked, "Who the hell were those guys?"

"Well, I don't know who the guy with blonde hair is. The one with sunglasses is Harima Kenji, delinquent and, apparently, a manga-ka (manga artist). The one with glasses and dressed in the gi is Hanai Haruki, male leader of 2-C, my homeroom. You're in their too, by the way," said Ranma, turning back into a guy halfway during the speech.

"The girl is Tsukamoto Yakumo, in 1-D. Her sister's in my class, 2-C. I've actually met them before."

"Oh?"

And, as Ranma was telling Ryoga about his first visit to Yagami (refer to Ch. 1), they walked the little distance they had left to get to the restaurant, arriving about 5 minutes later, where Akane was waiting for him.

"There you are!" *WHAM*

Ranma geld the lump which had appeared. "What was that for?"

"You didn't say goodbye to me!"

"Ah." Ranma pulled her into a full French makeout.

"Get a room!" yelled Ryoga, looking to see where Ukyo was.

As Ranma detached himself from Akane, he said, "That make up for it?"

"Maybe," she responded cheekily.

As Ranma walked inside, Ukyo came out and saw Ryoga, hugged him and kissed him, which promptly made him nose bleed. He was still shy around cute girls.

However, as always, all good things come to an end. And so, with the end of the day, Ukyo cooked up her dinner and Akane, heavily supervised, made deserts, which were given great comments. Ranma then walked out of the room, saying he needed training. He then ran 100 km away and threw up, then began to work on his new idea.

When Ranma came back, sweaty and dirty, he found the furo all ready for him. He sank into the depths of the water and started theorizing about his new school.

'Well, with the cold aura, I might just be able to conjure up a Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken at freezing temperatures. That's gonna be something I need to figure out.'

'And, if I'm gonna be using Soul of Ice, I might as well do something hot for the heck of it. Hell, it might be easier than Soul of Ice. Herb did say the Amazon techniques were a good place to start.'

'And, another thing could be that I could combine the two…hey, that might actually work!'

"I got it!"

He stood up, punching the air just as Ryoga came through the doorway.

"Got what, Ranma?"

"Huh? Oh, just a new idea for an attack," he replied, sitting back down.

"Well, hurry up, I need to use that too, you know."

"Be my guest," he said, getting out.

As Ranma left the furo, completely dressed, he walked down the hallway to his new room. He opened the door and found what he had brought set up for him, presumably by Akane.

He had a copy of the picture from Toma's island, some of the assorted weapons he had found over the years, including the Gekkaja (Saffron never called when he took it) and some of the minor items.

Then his eyes fell on a wooden necklace. He remembered that he was supposed to give it to Kagome before he left. Maybe he'd give it to her for a birthday present.

It was basically a set of wooden beads not unlike that the ones Buddhist monks used. The difference is this set was small enough to fit around his wrist and that in the middle of each bead, was a kanji.

'Aishiteru, Kagome. Ranma.'

He picked it up and looked at it, realizing that while Kagome may find it a great gift, others may find it misleading. Particularly Akane and Inuyasha.

Then he realized the Akane hadn't confronted him about it yet, which meant she was doing a great job of holding in her anger (unlikely, but possible, given her training), Ukyo had managed to calm her down or Ukyo had set up the room.

The last guess turned out to be right when he heard a knock on the door and he opened it. Ukyo stood there, looking at the bracelet.

"I see that you're the one who set everything up," said Ranma.

"Well, I was gonna get Akane to do it, but she was too preoccupied with waiting for you," she said. "When…" Ranma knew what she was going to say and signaled her to stop.

"Just before I left, I got it for her, using all the money which I scrapped together. And that was no easy task, considering Pop. I was gonna give it to her, but then I left for China. When I got to the Tendo's, I had just remembered about it. So, while I was sitting there, I thought, 'Ah, well. Too late now. I don't even know where she lived.' So, I held onto it, as a good luck charm. Probably what actually made me survive Nerima."

"And…"

"Maybe White Day or her birthday. Not too far off."

"Right. So…"

"No. This is between me and Kagome. I'm not gonna tell Akane. It's a gift, nothing more."

"Well, she may see it the wrong way."

"I know. But, I really do want to give this to Kagome, seeing as it was supposed to go to her."

Ukyo nodded. "I won't say anything else, then." She left, bidding Ranma good night.

Ranma sighed, holding the bracelet in his hands. 'Well, there might be another use for it, but for now, I think as a gift would be the best use for it.'

He stored the bracelet away, hopefully for another day.

* * *

Okay, into the good part, now. 10 chapters and I've nearly set everything to go. I know I've said I would have everything set up by now, but I promise to have it all set up by Ch. 11. If not, you don't have to review for me for one week and I have to give you guys two chapters as punishment.

As for the bracelet thing, I was gonna include it in TOWORT, but I never found a good time to include it. However, that'll be the basis of the next story I'll do, after SOSN.

On another note, though, just make sure to tell me what you think. See the little button down there? Yeah, the one that says review chapter/story? Yeah, that's the one. Press it. It brings good luck. Especially if you write comments. Good or bad, doesn't matter. So, yeah, press it.

Laters, people!


	11. The Athletics Carnival Part One

Chapter 11: The Athletics Carnival – Part One

Disclaimer: I don't Ranma ½, Inuyasha, School Rumble or Full Metal Panic. They are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, Kobayashi Jin and Shinji Gatou.

* * *

As the new day shone on the town of Yagami, typical Nerimean happenings graced itself upon this small piece of civilization.

For one, the usual fights which took place over the pond in the Tendo Dojo were now replaced with amazing airborne acrobatics (that's quite an alliteration).

Also, Ranma's choice of opponent had changed. From a furry panda to black piglet, the spunky red head had no qualms about this change, especially considering how the panda woke her up.

At this moment, Ranma and Ryoga were going at it in what they call a 'warm up'. No need to say what that will do, is there?

Thankfully, though, structural damage was kept to a minimum and the residents of Yagami could rest easy, knowing their material belongings are actually in one piece, save the occasional wall.

Today was the first day of school for Ukyo, Ryoga and Akane. Whilst Ukyo was making breakfast, Akane helping when she could, the radio blaring next to them.

"...with a slight chance of showers today. In other news, the Education Department has been cracking down on schools lately, closing another 2 schools in addition to Furinkan High of Nerima just last month. Education Department Minister Shishio Raguhir speaking."

However, the radio was turned off as Ranma and Ryoga walked in, the latter in his uniform, the former in his red Chinese shirt and slacks.

"Morning, girls," said Ranma, kissing Akane on the cheek.

"Morning Ranma, Ryoga," said Ukyo, flipping another okonomiyaki.

And, as breakfast was consumed (hastily, for one person), Ukyo asked what class she was in.

"Well, that's easy. All three of you are in mine," he replied, still scrounging food into his gullet.

"Wait. You're kidding, right?"

"Nah. Kagome and the others are in there too. Though there are two people, one of whom says she's Kagome's cousin."

"Really?" asked Akane.

"Yep. Name's Chidori Kaname. The other guy looks like he's from the army," he said, remembering that their story was not for him to tell. "Sagara Sousuke, if I remember correctly."

"And, there are a few people in our class I know. One of them's called Harima Kenji. You'll know who he is immediately. He's really a nice guy."

"There's this other guy, Hanai Haruki. You met him yesterday, Ryoga. He's our class rep."

"And finally, there's one group of friends there: Tsukamoto Tenma, Sawachika Eri, Suou Mikoto and Takano Akira. You'll meet them later."

The other three listened to Ranma recounting some of the various introductions to the other people in their class, from perverted Nishimoto, shy but strong Ichijou, photographer Fuyuki and others.

However, it was their homeroom teacher that got the other three scared.

"And our homeroom teacher is Tani-sensei, who supposedly got his teaching degree in the same school as Hinako-sensei."

"WHAT?"

However, they realized that if they didn't leavesoon, they would be late. So, they cut their conversation short and left the Ucchan, about a 20 minute walk from school.

As Ranma and Akane were walking slightly ahead of Ryoga and Ukyo, another group of friends spotted them.

"Ranma-kun!"

Ranma looked over and saw Tenma's group looking at them. "Ohayo, Tsukamoto."

"Friends, Ranma?" asked Akane.

"They're actually in our class. This is Tendo Akane, my fiancé."

"Oh, really?" asked Suou Mikoto.

"Parental arrangement, but, meh, details," said Ranma. "Guys, these are the girls in our class."

"I'm Sawachika Eri! Nice to meet you!" she said, waving her arms.

"I'm Mikoto Suou! Hope we can be friends!"

"Takano Akira. Yoroshiku."

"And I'm Tsukamoto Tenma!"

The last outburst was done rather exuberantly and the three were a little shocked. Ranma, though, looked at her like he'd seen it before. Which he had.

However, these things were cut short as they realized they would be late if they didn't hurry. So, they ran to the school, the martial artists making sure they ran at a normal pace.

When they did reach the school later, the group made their way up to the classroom, reaching there just as the bell sounded.

After introductions were made, Hanai called the class to order. "Alright then, we'll start deciding who will be in which events in the Athletics Carnival."

And so, people started signing up for events. By the time homeroom was finished, only two events had yet to be decided.

"Well, then, the only problems are the relay and the horse riding event. We'll do the horse chariot first."

"Now, we're allowed 4 teams of 4 members, 12 men, 4 women. Each team has 3 men and 1 women," said Hanai. His female counterpart, Tsumugi, continued.

"The girl sits atop the three guys. She has a headband which must be protected whilst taking other headbands. The fight continues until one team remains."

"But, that's not all. If the girl falls off, the team is also disqualified. And, the more headbands you get, the more bonus points you score."

"And, the guys can also fight it out and break formation as they see fit, as long as the girl stays up off the ground and the boys don't stray more than 3 meters away from their team. However, the team must fight one other team only."

At this, Ranma, Ryoga and Inuyasha smirked.

"Well, that's the rules," Hanai. "Any boys?"

"Harima should be good," said Yoshidayama. "I'm also in."

"I'll obviously be in it," said Hanai. "Asou?" He nodded.

"If Asou doing it, then I'm in too!" said Suga.

"I'm in," said Imadori. 'Otherwise, they'll pound the crap outta me. Well, I'm good now.' He thought and pulled out his phone.

"Sign me up," said Ranma.

"Same here," said Ryoga.

"I'm in!" said Inuyasha.

"I'll do it!" said Miroku.

"Sousuke's gonna do it!" said Kaname.

"I am?"

"Yes!"

"Roger."

"I'll do it too!" said Nara. Everyone looked at him like they hadn't seen him before.

"Is he in our class?" asked Hanai.

"Dunno, but put him down," said Tsumugi.

"Alright then, that's all the boys. Now then, out of the girls, who's gonna do it?"

"I'll do it!" said Eri.

"Same here!" said Mikoto.

"I'll go for it," said Ichijou Karen.

"I'll-" began Akane, but was quickly drowned out by Ukyo.

"I'll do it!" she yelled, covering up Akane. 'Sorry, Akane, but this isn't your field.'

Akane was quite obviously angry, but was restrained by Ranma with a hand on her shoulder.

"Alright, then, so, at random order," said Tsumugi, "the teams are:"

Mikoto – Asou, Suga, Imadori

Ukyo – Ranma, Ryoga, Inuyasha

Karen – Hanai, Miroku, Sousuke

Eri – Harima, Yoshidayama, Nara

"Everyone happy?" she asked.

"Hai!" was the general response.

"Okay then, so, the relay teams," she continued.

"This should be a rather fat decision," said Hanai. "Okay, any girls with fast legs?"

"Akane and myself will," said Ukyo. The former nodded grumpily.

"I can do it!" said Kagome.

"I'll do it too!" said Sango.

"And Eri-chan's the fastest!" said Tenma.

"Nani?"

"Okay then, so Tendo, Kuonji, Higurashi, Taijiya and Sawachika?" said Tsumugi. They nodded.

"Okay, how about the boys?" she asked.

"Well, there's Saotome, Asou, myself, Harima, Imadori, Taisho, Houshi and Suga," said Hanai. "Cutting away the excess fat, the team will be myself, Harima, Saotome, Imadori and Taisho. Alright, everyone?"

"Hai!" replied two voices.

"Matte. Oi, Imadori!" he yelled.

He was texting away at his phone when he looked up. "What is it?"

"Are you in the relay?" Hanai asked, steamed.

"Yeah, yeah."

"And where's Harima? Wasn't he here a minute ago?"

"No, technically," replied Ranma.

"Why that- Imadori, call Harima and ask him!"

"Man, stop harassing me. And stop acting like I have his number!"

Hanai sighed. "Man. You too eh, Imadori?"

Over in the back corner, Sawachika said to her friends, "I doubt Harima knows what a phone is."

Akira shook her head. "Iie, he has one."

"What?"

"You want his number?"

"N-no," she replied, looking away.

"Rrrgh, that Harima! Skirting class like this, he's...when I get him, I'm gonna..." grumbled Hanai angrily, stalking out of the classroom.

Ranma used his ki senses to find him. 'Well, Harima's on the roof. And he's with-'

* * *

"Really, I apologize...for dragging you out like this," said Harima.

"It's okay. I was done with class too," replied Yakumo.

"You must have been surprised when I texted you."

"Y-Yes, I was..."

"Well," continued Harima, "tell me what you truly think of it."

"Ah, hai," she replied and Harima moved in closer to her.

"The problem is with this scene. It's the climax and the main character calls out to the heroine, right?"

"Yes..."

At that moment, Hanai walks in on them. "I knew you would be here, Harima." At this, he looks closer at Harima. "Huh? Is he with someone? Isn't that..."

"Is it okay to kiss here?" asked Harima.

"Eh? Y-Yes. I think that's good."

* * *

'And there he goes,' thought Ranma. 'I thought something like that would happen.'

However, his thought process was interrupted as Sara Adiemus of 1-D walked in and went to him.

"Saotome-san?"

Ranma looked at the British girl. "Hai?"

"There's something I have to ask you to do. My senpai at work is busy and so he can't do this for me," she said.

"What is it?"

"Well, could we go to somewhere a bit more private?"

"Oh?"

"It's a little embarrassing for me and for you..."

* * *

"Ah!"

"Hmm? What's up?" said Harima.

"I thought I felt someone here..." Yakumo replied.

"I'm sorry. I think this situation would easily be misunderstood. You know, a guy and a girl like this..."

"Ah, no that's okay. But...I don't know how to say this properly...I felt a strong thought..."

"Thought?" asked Harima.

"I-It's nothing..."

* * *

"So, you'll do it?"

"Err...sure...I think..." replied Ranma.

"Arigato gozaimasu! I'll see you there after school!"

As the British girl left, Ranma contemplated the proposal given to him. 'This is, officially, the weirdest thing I've been asked to do. Well, it couldn't hurt...'

'She said the church, right? Well, may as well go. Gotta let Ukyo know where I'm going, though, first.'

And so, he spent the rest of the day searching for said girl.

* * *

'Well, I'm here.'

Ranma stood in front of the Christian Church, seeing the nun standing outside.

"Saotome-san! Over here!"

Ranma walked up to Sara, who greeted him rather jovially.

"Thanks for coming here! This makes things easier for me!" She beckoned him to follow her inside.

It wasn't particularly dark as the stained glass windows provided some light. Otherwise, that was it. The organ was at the back of the church. Right at the front of the church, though was a woman dressed in a wedding dress. However, Ranma couldn't make out her face because of the distance.

However, as he approached the front, his eyes widened as he made out who it was.

Tsukamoto Yakumo.

He never realized that she had changed so much. The more he looked at her, the more she stood out.

'Kawaii...'

Ranma felt the same, strange sensation that he had been feeling when he was around Yakumo as she blushed.

"Well, how about we do this from the top?" asked Sara and both Ranma and Yakumo nodded.

* * *

"WHAT?"

Back at a Chinese restaurant (not the one you're thinking of, mind you), Asou was being interrogated by Suga.

"You turned down being Tsukamoto's bride for this? Are you nuts?" he yelled.

"I've got an appointment after this. I'm too busy to do that!"

Across the restaurant, a man wearing a beret and wearing biker's clothes heard everything. At this time, the waiter came up to him and said, "Here's your oolong tea."

However, Harima replied, "No. I will have my tea when I have thrown my opponent to the ground." He threw down some money and walked out of the restaurant. Along the way, he heard, "Didn't you know? I heard that Saotome took the job."

As he exited the restaurant, he walked to his bike and started it. He thought, 'This is unforgiveable! A man like him has no right to be the groom of Tsukamoto Tenma! There is only one man for that role, and that is me!'

He roared off into the distance.

* * *

"So, now that we've done the photos, I'd like to give you something," said Sara. She brandished two books out. "These are the photos from today." She handed a copy to both Ranma and Yakumo.

They both blushed as they looked through the photos. They never realized that they looked so much like a couple.

However, as Sara moved to close up the church, a man flew at Ranma, who quickly blocked his kick.

When Ranma threw him off, he saw Harima with a huge aura. Almost instinctively, he stepped in front of Yakumo.

"What is it, Harima?" he asked rather aggressively.

"As you can see, we're switching roles!"

"What?" Ranma asked, confused.

"I guess you didn't hear properly. So I'll rephrase: You are not worthy of her!"

"Umm, Harima-" Ranma began, but was cut off. He blocked another one of his kicks. "You do know-" *BLOCK* "-that this is a-" *DODGE* "-fake marriage-" *DUCK* "right?"

"Damn it, stop dodging! Hurricane Dragon!"

"Man, what a pain. Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken!" One second later, Harima was on the ground.

At this time, he took a good look at the girl behind Ranma. "Oh? Imouto-san?"

"It was a fake wedding for some photos, Harima-san," she said, looking rather confusedly at him.

Harima froze. 'I must have made fool of myself!' "YEARGH!" He ran away.

"Umm, what was that?" asked Ranma.

Yakumo looked at him, bewildered.Lingering traces of Ranma'sthoughts remained. What she saw surprised her: Ranma was actually fantazing about a future with her.

"A-ano..."

"Daijobu, Yakumo. I won't tell anyone," he said. 'Otherwise, my head'll be on a silver platter!'

09090909

Night time fell across Yagami and Mikoto Suou had finished a workout session in her family's dojo.

"Man, Hanai didn't show up at all after school. Did something happen with Harima?" She opened the door leading out to the main corridor and was surprised at what she found.

She found Hanai playing a flute, surrounded by mice.

'Is this the Pied Piper?' she thought.

Then he raised the flute and started playing a rather warped tune (from memory, if you've seen the anime, it's the Godfather).**(the Godfather, lol)**

"Mice? What is this?" she asked.

"I am going to train for the sports festival..." he said, before playing again and walking away, the mice following him.

Mikoto sweat dropped.

09090909

And, that's it! It's finally all together!

This story will span a few major arcs, most notably, the Athletics Carnival and the Cultural Festival. The school trip arc will also be included, but it will only serve to be the backdrop for the final arc.

After SOSN, I've got two ideas. However, they'll be made known when we get there.

Well, hope to hear from ya soon!

HitokiriHERO


	12. The Athletics Carnival Part Two

Chapter 12: The Athletics Carnival – Part Two

Disclaimer: I don't Ranma ½, Inuyasha, School Rumble or Full Metal Panic. They are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, Kobayashi Jin and Shinji Gatou.

* * *

Okay, first things first, I know, a double chapter whammy after a long silence. WTF, right?

Well, thanks to my incredibly crappy net plan, I was cut off from the rest of the world. Hence, the reason that there are two chapters. I used the time to write these up for you whilst I was cut off.

But, enough excuses. Let's GO!

* * *

The day started off normally: blue, clear skies, fireworks signalling the beginning of the festival, etc, etc...

Then Katou-sensei opened up the hostilities with a few well placed comments.

"Okay," he began. "Today, the main goal is for the students to develop both academic and athletic skills. I hope everyone will remember this deep in their hearts. *COUGH 2-C COUGH* Ah, sorry."

Ranma was fuming at the man, Ryoga and Inuyasha right alongside with him. They glared daggers at him, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Do not behave like a certain class and act recklessly and injure yourselves," he continued.

Now Ranma and co. flared their auras. Meanwhile, comments sprung up about his speech.

"What is he talking about?"

"Why would we get hurt?"

"Let's go home, Kato."

Unnoticeable to the man, he ploughed on.

"Now, I'd like to introduce a new teacher, Anesaki-sensei. She is the new nurse. Remember, if you get hurt, please go to her."

At this comment, she put on her biggest smile and said, "Everyone, I will be waiting for you!"

This, apparently, fired up the crowd (or at least half the crowd: no need to say who, right?) as they started yelling and cheering.

"Alright! We will definitely get ourselves hurt!"

Unbeknownst to what was actually going on, Tsukamoto Tenma said, "Wow, everyone is finally starting to get excited!"

Sweat dropping, Mikoto replied, "Looks like they got excited for the wrong reason."

Continuing, Sawachika said, "Men are all idiots."

"Ahem?"

She turned and saw Ranma, Ryoga and Inuyasha glare at her. She simply glared back.

However, her attention was diverted as Akira said, "Well, let's go watch."

The day progressed smoothly, with no major interruptions. Every second class (a.k.a. American/Australian Yr 11) event was won by either 2-C or 2-D. However, when the female Tug Of War was declared a draw (probably because the rope snapped from the tension of the pulling), Lala and Ichijou stood and engaged in some Amateur Wrestling.

The competition was fierce, but when Tenma found out she wasn't going to be competing alongside her crush, she ran to the main desk.

"Karasuma, you're not going to compete?"

He merely looked back at her with his mono face, deadpanning, "I will be sitting here."

"Yeah, you're part of the staff. It can't be helped."

As she turned to walk away, she heard her name being called. She turned around to face Karasuma.

"Gambatte."

She looked shocked, but then her face was awashwith happiness.

The competition was now starting to get very fierce as the final rounds was opened up with a game of dodgeball. The opponents? Why, 2-C and 2-D, of course.

The commentator opened up by saying, "And 2-C and 2-D have begun this fierce competition!"

As Harry and Togo (he's class rep of 2-D), ran around, Togo said, "Ah. Feeling good today?"

"Of course," he replied. "Nothing is impossible for me."

Over on the other side, Nara asked, "Um, could you two stop chattin-WHARGH!"

He was consequentially tagged out, for those who didn't know.

Over on the sidelines, the boys were making plenty of comments about the cheerleaders of 2-C. Naturally, Ranma, despite his skills in Martial Arts Cheerleading, didn't take the stage. Instead, Mikoto, Sawachika, Sango (against her wishes, courtesy of Miroku), Akane, Ukyo, Kagome and Kaname did the honours.

"Wow, the girls on 2-C sure are pretty!"

"Wah, I wanna join 2-C too!"

Meanwhile, class photographer and third command of the Pervert Group (thankfully, they hadn't managed to get to Akane...yet) Fuyuki was snapping away at his camera, taking in the 'sights.'

Over on the other side, Lala was dancing, though it didn't...well, let's go to our judges for the verdict, eh?

"It seems like she doesn't want to dance."

"She looks pissed."

"In Japan, girls will cheer for everyone. Togo requested that."

She looked depressed and Harry came to her rescue.

"You know, if you don't want to do that, then don't do it," he said.

"Really?"

Out of this scene and into another, namely, the nurse's office, Harima and Yoshidayama were exchanging words.

"You didn't go to the sports festival. Oh yeah, why are you here in the nurse's office? Don't you usually go on the roof?"

"Eh? Yes, sometimes," he replied. However, his anger was starting to show.

'Get out of here, you idiot! I can still get some sleep!' His hand was on the original draft of his manga.

"Stop pretending already," he said. "You like the nurse, right?"

He was spared from replying when someone opened the door.

"Ah! Harima, you're here! It's your turn to compete," said Ranma.

"Sorry, but I don't want to," he replied.

"But Tsukamoto was asking for you," he said.

"Sorry, Saotome. Harima says he doesn't have time to go to the sports festiva-ARGH!"

"I've decided to go," Harima said menacingly, punching his lights out.

'Weird,' he thought. 'But nothing unusual.'

Outside, competition was really starting up.

"Photo finish!" yelled the commentator.

"First place!"

"Class C is doing very well!"

"Everyone is doing very well," Tenma said, looking at her class mates. "Alright, I'll have to do my best, too!"

"The next event is the four legged race!" the commentator announced.

Matchup? Harima, Tenma, Hanai. Need I say, 'oh dear?'

"Hey, do you understand?" Harima asked his male counterpart threateningly.

"Although I do not like what happened between you and Yakumo (he's referring to the roof scene), I will still do my best," replied Hanai.

Tenma, though, was just confused.

Ranma looked at the group and thought, 'What the hell is going on there?'

When the gun went off, the two boys ran off, Tenma, not doing any of the work running.

'Huh, they're good,' Ranma thought, shocked.

09090909

We now reach lunchtime where the entire school was snacking off what they brought before the final events for the day began: horse chariot and relays.

"Wow, we are ranked first in our grade. Our class is good," was the consensus of 2-C.

Ranma and Inuyasha's groups ate lunch together, Akane doing the familiarly sickening act of feeding Ranma with her chopsticks.

However, Ranma, for some reason, just shrugged her off, getting up and walking away from the group. Kagome looked at him, worried.

'What's gotten into you, Ranma?'

"Kagome?"

She looked around and found Inuyasha.

"You alright?" asked Inuyasha.

"Yeah," she replied uncertainly.

Over in the distance, Ranma walked behind the school building, hoping to find some peace and quiet.

'Strange. Why did I shrug her off like that?' he thought. 'I never used to mind, but now, it's pretty much annoying.'

However, peace and Ranma never went with each other for too long, as demonstrated by the next scene.

"RANMA!"

"Shampoo, will you PLEASE get off me?" he grumbled angrily.

"But Ranma is Shampoo's husband and wife allowed to hug husband, no?"

"Shampoo, you're not my wife! I never was and NEVER will be," he said, forcing her off him.

"But-"

"GO!" The power in his voice revealed his barely contained wrath.

She looked at him and thought (wisely, for the first time, I think), the Ranma was better off being left alone.

He closed his eyes and yelled, "Why can't I have a moment of peace and quiet?"

However, he did yell into another person's face.

Ranma only noticed her ki and he opened his eyes slowly.

Yakumo looked at him, surprised.

"Ah! Yakumo, gomen!" he said, scratching his head.

"I thought I heard something here, and so..."

"Don't worry," he said, smiling at her. "It's alright."

Yakumo felt her heart race when she looked at him.

"Well, ja!" he said, running off.

She looked at him wistfully as he ran off.

"A-ano..."

Ranma looked back at her.

"G-Gambatte kudasai!" She said, bowing to hide her blush.

Ranma was surprised at first, but replied, "Arigato, Yakumo!"

* * *

Over at the score board, the scores read:

2-C: 176

2-D: 175

"Man, only up by a point. The only events left are the relay and the horse chariot. They'll decide the winner," said Hanai.

At this point, his senses alerted him. 'An enemy!'

He looked around and saw Togo. "Togo! We will..."

"...decide who the winner is in the horse chariot!" he finished, surprising Hanai.

"Wah? He took my line!"

The commentator, though, cut him off.

"The competition is heating up! The next event is our school's traditional horse chariot fight!" He started to run through the rules again, but no one bothered listening to him since everyone already knew them.

Sawachika was seriously regretting her match up with Harima, particularly when she just shaved his head a few days ago. Mikoto, being the good sport she was, said, "Do you want to change teams?"

She face palmed herself as she continued. "If you're still angry with Harima...then it won't be fun. But I still don't think that it'll affect your reflexes."

Sawachika had a flashback to what happened and said angrily, "That has nothing to do with me! Why do I have to care about him?" She looked away, acting like a spoilt brat.

"I don't know what you're thinking," Mikoto replied.

The commentator said, "Well then, everyone, please get ready for the horse chariots."

"I'm counting on you, Asou," said Mikoto.

"Mmm," he grunted.

"We are a team," said Suga.

"Yoroshiku onegaishimasu," Ichijou Karen said to her team.

"I will do that," Hanai said.

"Not a problem," said Sousuke.

"Ah, such a beauty should not be partaking in such a sport," said Miroku.

*WHAM*

"Keep your hands to yourself, you womanizer," said Sango angrily.

"Hurry up and find our teammates," said Sawachika.

"There's still time," replied Harima.

"Eri-chan! Harima-kun! Gambatte!" yelled Tenma as she ran off.

Harima nodded.

"Nani?" yelled Sawachika as she was thrown on the horse.

"Don't be irritatingly slow, baka," said Harima.

"Hmm, whatever," she replied.

Ranma, Ryoga and Inuyasha were, currently, fighting over who should be in front.

"I'll do it, since I'm stronger and faster!" said Ranma.

"No, I'll do it since I can do it just as good as you," said Inuyasha.

"Hey! I'm gonna do it because I'm just as good as both of you," yelled Ryoga.

"Now, now, guys, don't fight," said Ukyo, waving her arms and sweat dropping. 'Oh boy, I hope this doesn't become a free-for-all.'

However, through a few games of rock-paper-scissors, Ranma was going to be at the front, with Ryoga on his left and Inuyasha on his right.

"Alright, Ucchan, hop on," said Ranma.

"Sure, Ran-chan."

When the groups were finally finalized, the two main groups of opponents stood off, facing each other. Hanai was puffing steam from his nose like a comical bull that's seen red. Asou was tensed, ready to move at a moment's notice. Ranma eyed his competition cockily, grinning. Harima, though, had other worries. Like the fact that Sawachika was holding onto his beret.

Their opponents eyed them with disgust. Lala and Harry, both on the same team, were staring their opponents down.

Togo and his team were eyeing Hanai, Harima and Ranma. He knew they were the strongest of his opponents.

"Okay, and everything seems like it's about to start! Ready..."

As the man was about to fire the starting gun, Karasuma stood, held a conch in his hands and blew.

The low, resonating sound signalled the start of war.

* * *

Okay, mini break. These are teams:

2-C

Mikoto – Asou, Suga, Imadori

Ukyo – Ranma, Ryoga, Inuyasha

Karen – Hanai, Miroku, Sousuke

Eri – Harima, Yoshidayama, Nara

2-D

Togo with three other no namers

Harry and Lala with two other no namers

Tennouji with one other no namer (the reason will be revealed unless you've seen the series)

Back to the story!

* * *

The opposing sides ran towards each other in a battle like no other. Immediately, half the opponents were destroyed in the initial clash.

"Wow! A fierce competition from the start! Very fierce indeed!"

Immediately, one team was moving, weaving in and out of the remaining teams, grabbing bands like no tomorrow.

"That's fast! Who are those guys?"

The dust cleared around the horse and the commentator continued.

"The most prominent team in the competition, Harry and Lala! Get out of their way if you know what's good for you! Their momentum is unstoppable!"

Meanwhile, Ukyo and Ranma were analysing the situation.

"What do we do, Ran-chan? We might get defeated," she said.

"Daijobu. The smaller fries need to get eliminated so the big guns are left," he replied, keeping distance. 'Besides, this isn't fun if we take all the bad guys first.'

"WHOA!"

A cry fell across the crowd as they saw yet another blur fly across the field.

"Ichijou got seven ribbons at once! What an incredible performance! There are two prominent aces, one for each 2-C and 2-D! The final phase has begun!"

"That's our cue!" yelled Ranma, leaping into thefray. Ryoga and Inuyasha also grinned.

However, 2-A had other ideas.

"Damn it, looks like 2-C and 2-D are gonna win again. Our class doesn't seem like it has a chance at winning."

"No! We are weak, but we still have our ambition! Let's use that!"

"YEAH!"

* * *

"Got it!" yelled Mikoto.

"WHOA!"

"What happened?" she asked, looking around.

"SUPER SYNTHESIS!"

"What?!? All the horses from 2-A have merged into one! The rider is right at the top! It's like a pyramid! They're invincible!"

"What?" yelled one of the riders. "That's against the rules!"

However, the one who instigated the original plan said, "The rider's hand didn't touch the ground. This is not against the rules!"

"So, what now?" the commentator said.

Over at the judges tent, they conferring.

"Their hands didn't touch the ground, but still..."

One brave man picked up the microphone and said one word.

"Allowed," said Karasuma.

*BAM*

Most, if not, all the teams face-faulted.

"HE OKAYED IT! THIS YEAR'S REFEREE IS REALLY BRAVE!" the commentator yelled.

"Too weird!" yelled the rider from before.

"HA HA HA HA! If you think you can get it, then try!"

Ranma, Ryoga, Inuyasha and Ukyo made their way to the base of the pyramid, kicked one of them out and walked back.

"Ah! The pyramid's collapsed! Kuonji's team has effortlessly destroyed the pyramid! And, with such ease too! Their plans were grand, but the flaw just as great!"

"That was too easy," said Ranma. His companions agreed.

Soon, though, another threat made its way through the field.

"HU HU HU HU HU! We won't be defeated that easily!"

"Here they come! 2-B's three fat brothers!" (Like that's a title to be proud of) "They are very heavy!" (No effing shit, Sherlock!) "The rider's body is buried inside so deeply you can barely see it!" (No comment *SHUDDERS*) "It's like Ashura!" (Isn't it Daruma?)

(The above in brackets is Ranma's thoughts)

"Let's go, Asou!" yelled Mikoto.

"Mmm!"

Their horse changed direction as they moved in.

"AHH! The brave Suou has gone to challenge them!"

"Brother! Enemy at 8 o'clock!"

"8 o'clock?"

"Hold on tight!" said Asou, ramming into the fat filled freaks.

His attempt proved useless, though, as he was merely repelled by Newton's Third Law. Hey, there gotta be SOME science, right?

"That's useless! I gained 30 kilos just for today's competition!"

'Are these guys idiots?' thought Ranma's horse.

"Aso! Aim for his leg!" yelled Mikoto.

He dashed forward and kicked one of the legs. "Like this?"

"Now, turn 90 degrees to the right and HIT THEM!"

He complied and the results showed. The fat horse was no more.

"DEFEATED! Suou's team uses teamwork to break the meatwall!"

"Success!" she yelled, hugging Asou.

"Baka, yamero!" he yelled, blushing.

"Damn it, Asou, stop enjoying it by yourself!" said Suga.

Meanwhile, over at the boundaries...

"Hey, you just can't walk around on the boundaries! We should go in there and beat them!" yelled Eri.

"Man, you are so troublesome. If you wanna go, then go yourself!"

She looked indignant at this. "What? Are you still mad at me?"

"Me? Mad? Over what?" he said, not meeting her eyes.

"That incident, of course, bald guy!"

"AHH! YOU!"

"Man, you're freaking out from such a minor thing. You are a little kid."

"YOU THINK THIS MINOR? YOU CAN GET OVER IT LIKE THAT? DO YOU HAVE MENTAL PROBLEMS?" he yelled.

"Anyway," she started, before cutting herself off. 'Oh, no. Things will get complicated soon. Man, this bald guy and I are really incompatible. This really is annoying. But, I must bear with it in here.' "Hey, Harima," she started, before hearing another voice.

"Keep it Hario! I'm over here watching!" yelled the school nurse.

"Ah, okay?"

"Oh, this is love, Harima!" said Yoshidayama.

"Baka, it's not like that."

However, before he could say another word, he felt a hand grab his hat.

"Hey! Don't grab the hat like that! It'll fall off!"

"Forward."

"UH?"

"Rightnow," she said in English.

(Minna-san, this is a demonstration of the saying 'hell hath no fury like a woman scorned')

"Hey, you can't mess with a person who can't fight back!"

"Turn right up ahead!" To prove her point, she dragged his head towards the right.

"Hey, enough yelling."

"Turn left up ahead!"

"Ah, that hurts! Is this fun for you? OI, STOP PLAYING AROUND!"

"Ah, your hat's about to fall off."

"I will remember this!"

Meanwhile, two unlucky teams crept up behind them.

"They're arguing! It's our chance!"

"Let's attack them together!

*BONG*

"Don't get ahead of yourselves!" Eri and Harima yelled. However, that was soon forgotten as their spat resumed.

"Run faster!"

"Shut up!"

Back to the general field...

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

*BOOM*

"What's that?"

Over to where Tani-sensei and Katou-sensei were, one had a look of victory, the other, horrified surprise.

Suddenly, a huge shadow appeared, covering the whole field.

"WHAT?"

However, the general remark disappeared in a crowd of screams.

Mikoto and Asou approached to survey the damage. "What? What happened?"

"Hey, you alright?" she asked one of the fallen team members.

"I'm dying," he replied.

Over to where Harry and Togo were, Harry said, "Then those guys are finished, too."

Togo continued. "That's right."

"BEHIND YOU!" yelled Ranma.

"Wha-" started Mikoto.

The commentator butted in at this point. "It's 2-D's Tennouji!"

Everyone from 2-C stared at the man giant (think really giant, people), horrified. Tani-sensei fell to his knees. "So this is the end," he conceded.

"Hmph. Don't be afraid! That's just one man! Go for it!" yelled one of the no-name groups. The other non-name groups agreed and together they charged.

Tennouji turned his massive head towards the oncoming groups and sneered. He then used his massive hand to literally sweep the whole field (think Apocalypse from X-men vs. Street Fighter or the final boss guy, can't remember his name, from Marvel vs. Capcom).

He was merciless in his attack, destroying all who opposed him. Eventually, he turned his sights on Ranma's group.

"Our turn," he said, smirking.

"Bout time..." Inuyasha started.

"...that things got interesting," finished Ryoga.

"Umm, guys, you do realize that's GIANT we're facing, right?" said Ukyo, clearly terrified.

"Umm, yeah," said Inuyasha.

"So what?" continued Ranma.

"Umm, nothing, nothing," she said, steeling herself.

"Right then. CHARGE!" yelled Ranma, sprinting across the field with Ryoga and Inuyasha in tow.

"OH! 2-C's Kuonji's going for it! Will they do it?" the commentator yelled.

"Saotome!" yelled Mikoto. However, she was blocked off by Togo.

"The brave people aren't here and I feel bored.

"Don't worry! Go, we'll be fine! Saotome Ranma never loses!" he yelled, jumping. "Here we go guys! NOW!" They separated mid-air.

"TAKE THIS! KACHU TENSHIN AMAGURIKEN!" Ranma screamed, going full speed.

"BAKUSAI TENKETSU REVISED: EARTH-SHATTERING WAVE!" roared Ryoga, pummelling the ground with his palms. The result was that the giant was unable to move, his legs having been sunk into the ground.

(This attack uses Bakusai Tenketsu to find the 'Breaking Point', but instead of using his fingers, he uses his palms)

Inuyasha and Ukyo, though, without their flashy techniques, used normal fist fighting to deliver damage. And whilst she didn't use itoften, Ukyo was well-versed in fist fighting.

Their combined momentum was enough to fell the giant. And whilst their attack succeeded, they needed to reassemble their horse before Ukyo hit the ground. Which they did successfully.

"AND THAT'S IT! SAOTOME'S HORSE HAS BROKEN TENNOUJI OF 2-D! THIS IS A MAJOR BLOW TO 2-D's CONFIDENCE!"

However, as with everything, a cause makes an effect. In this case, a gust of wind was blown right towards Harima and Sawachika, who were still arguing.

The result was that whilst his hat was blown off his head, Sawachika leapt out to grab it and replace it. However, whilst she did do that successfully, she overextended herself and fell off the horse completely, rolling along the ground.

"What happened? Did Sawachika fall of her horse?"

Whilst the commentator did have the tendency state the obvious, he was on the mark with his comment before last. 2-D were feeling very threatened at the moment. With their major secret weapon gone, they had no backup plan in case Tennouji was defeated.

"On another note, Suou is in a dangerous position! She's been surrounded by the elite of the elite from 2-D!"

Sure enough, when Ranma looked at her, she was surrounded by both Harry and Togo's teams.

"SUOU!" yelled Hanai, running forth to save her.

"IT'S USELESS!" yelled Harry, tripping his horse and sending Ichijou to the ground. "We will win!"

"They're angry, people, watch out!" yelled the commentator. "They've just taken out Hanai without any effort! This is a major upset! Only Suou and Kuonji remain in it for 2-C!"

"Shimatta, we have to save Mikoto," said Ranma. However, his words proved useless as she was taken out too, by Harry and Lala.

However, her fall created a much bigger cloud than expected. Then Ranma found Sousuke discreetly hiding a used, miniature smoke grenade.

'Kuso, I don't like it, but, this is our chance to end it!' he thought.

"Oh no, Suou's horse is out! It's 2 vs. 1 for 2-C! The odds are against them, considering it's Harry and Togo they're going up against!"

Ranma turned and found Ryoga's and Inuyasha's eyes. They nodded.

"LET'S GO!" they roared, being cheered along by their classmates.

"2-C! 2-C! 2-C! 2-C!"

"TAKE THIS!" he said and he leapt into the air, breaking formation only slightly. Then he proceeded to bombard both horses with a flurry of kicks at Amaguriken speed.

The result was that Ranma was left barely standing and both opposing horse's riders were knocked out, though not on the ground. Lala, unsurprisingly, recovered quickly.

"Shit, I was hoping that would finish them!" he said, kneeling. Whilst not against the rules, he knew he was a sitting duck because of the strain on his legs.

"What was that? Did anybody see that? Saotome just launched a full assault against them!"

"GO RANMA!" yelled Akane.

"DON'T GIVE UP!" added Kagome.

'Go for it!' thought Yakumo.

Ranma stood again, though barely making it.

"Youall right, Ranma?" asked Ryoga.

"Let's end it," he said, ignoring the question. With a roar, they charged, Ranma taking Togo out in one strike before moving to Harry.

"You're a worthy opponent, Saotome! But, it ends here!" he said, smiling.

"We'll see about that, blondie!" he yelled. With renewed vigour, he charged and clashed with Harry.

'If you can't use hands or your legs, use your chest!' he thought, before crashing into each other.

Lala was on the immediate assault, using Amaguriken-like speed to attack Ukyo. However, that was just it. Amaguriken-LIKE.

Ukyohad been training with Ryoga to find a way to overcome her disadvantage of speed, particularly since she wielded a giant spatula. The result was that she just her hands to knock her fists out of the way.

'Well, she's fast, I'll give her that. But she's got nothing on Ran-chan,' Ukyo thought.

"This is the ultimate battle of offense and defence! One slip and it's all over! Who will win?"

Ranma and Harry, though, broke their stalemate and rushed passed each other. They then turned and went for Round 2.

Again, though, the stalemate continued and Ukyo and Lala showed no signs of slowing down. Harry and Ranma broke passed each other once again before moving in for Round 3.

'Have to end it now, I can't last another round!' Ranma thought. Without breaking formation, he jumped only half a metre and, using the force from Ryoga and Inuyasha's running, ploughed into Harry, legs outstretched.

"HURRICANE KICK REVISED: DRAGON BLASTER!"

*SMASH*

The dust cloud kicked up and billowed out it cleared, showing Ranma on his knees and Lala on the ground.

Silence gripped the field for a moment before cheers erupted on either side.

"They've done it! The win goes to 2-C! They've overcome the odds!"

Ranma, upon hearing the end was declared, dropped to his knees, completely exhausted. Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken at full speed on both his arms and legs destroyed his energy. Ranma was now running on pure ki.

"There will be a 10 minute reprieve before the start of the women's relays!" announced the commentator.

"Ran-chan, are you alright?" asked Ukyo.

"HAH! It'll take more than that to take me out!" he said, grinning.

However, they were silenced as the rest of 2-C ran out (barring Harima: "Later, my classmates," he said) and threw Ranma into the air, cheering for him.

"Yes! Victory is in our grasp! We're ahead by 5 points!" yelled Hanai.

"Whoa! Hey, I need to rest!" he said and the class caught and put him down. "Man, that felt good!"

"You did it, Ranma!" said Kagome.

"Arigato, Kagome-chan!" he said, before collapsing from exhaustion.

Kagome screamed.

"Don't worry, I'm just tired!" he said whilst on the ground.

"Baka! Don't scare me like that!" she yelled scoldingly.

Over on the sidelines, Tani-sensei was crying from their victory. Katou-sensei, though, was frowning.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, Tani-sensei. 5 points is but a small margin my 2-D can easily conquer," he said.

Over at 2-D HQ...

"Well, you can relax now," said Togo.

"No, I can't do that," replied Harry. "In the beginning, I thought this was just for fun. But, I have changed my mind. I will beat them.

09090909

Whoa, that was a massive chapter! Hope you liked the ending!

I know most of it was canon material, but please, work with me! It is ultimately important to the ending.

The next chapter will cover the second half of the Athletics Carnival as well as the aftermath. During the time between the Athletics Carnival and the Cultural Festival, that will all be original material. I promise you that much.

The main part of the storyline, though, will occur after the Cultural Festival. When that part is finished, that will be either the halfway point or two-thirds. It's really, I'm telling you. Take a note from my beta: he knows the storyline:

[YF5: Jeeze, you put me on the spot. How troublesome. Anyway, it's no word of a lie, expect to be in for a long run. This story will easily encompass 40 chapters. After the cultural festival, Akane and Shampoo still need to be put out of the way, not to mention acting on the reasons we actually put everyone in the same school to begin with. If you have been paying close attention, you should be able to figure out at least part of the main plot. I'll give you a hint, Furinkan wasn't really shut down for renovation.

Rest assured fans and fanatics alike, this story is far from over. If I had to put it in arc format I'd say...hmm... square root, carry the ten, divide by that... about five or six main arcs, with a myriad of sub-arcs. HH also has some lovely suprise content for you. I guarantee you'll enjoy it, but don't look for it until after the cultural festival. Don't bother reading into things, as they will be plainly visible. Yes, there will be more than one.

And before you hentai's ask, onna-Ranma will not be playing a major part in the pairing. Ja ne.]

Well, that's it from me! You know what to do, right?


	13. The Athletics Carnival Part Three

Chapter 13: The Athletics Carnival – Part Three

Disclaimer: I don't Ranma ½, Inuyasha, School Rumble or Full Metal Panic. They are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, Kobayashi Jin and Shinji Gatou.

* * *

Okay, first thing's first, thank you to all that reviewed! I enjoyed your responses.

But, these things can come later. For now, let's go!

* * *

"And now, it's time for the 2nd grade women's relay! And would you look at the fierce competition: 2-C 220 points, 2-D, 218 points!"

"Alright! My turn!" yelled Akane, her aura burning fiercely.

"Umm, Akane, you might want to calm down a bit..." said Ukyo, waving her arms, embarrassed.

"This race will decide who will be ahead! This is a critical race indeed! Get ready, everyone!"

"You can do it, Kagome!" yelled Inuyasha.

"Go for it, Akane!" yelled Ranma.

'Yosh!' she thought. 'My chance to shine!' Her aura began to burn more brightly.

"Sousuke, what about you?" asked Kaname as she walked to the start line, Sousuke following her like a lapdog.

"While I am not sure of the situation, I wish you the best of luck, Miss Chidori," he replied.

"That's better," she said, smiling.

However, one girl was not feeling very chipper. She tapped her foot against the ground.

'Itai. Shimatta, why did I do that for Hige?' Sawachika thought. Her mind flashedback to when she dove for his hat during the horse chariot.

"Ready..."

*BANG*

As the race began, Akane made great headway, easily overtaking the other girls.

"And that's 2-C's Tendo, taking the lead very early in the race! She's very athletic, people!"

As she reached Ukyo, she too began to start running.

"And the first change is here! Will Kuonji be able to hold onto the lead for 2-C?"

As Akane passed the baton, Ukyo sprinted for Kagome, who was waiting very patiently. She looked at Ukyo sprinting closer and closer until finally, she got the baton herself.

"And 2-C's Higurashi has taken the baton! 2-D's Lala is following closely behind, though! Can 2-D recover and take the win? Or will 2-C lead all the way?"

However, Ranma was not looking very pleased when he analysed Sawachika. 'That idiot! She's injured!' "Oi, Hanai!"

"What is it, Saotome?" he asked, keeping his eyes on the race.

"I dunno if you've noticed, but Sawachika's injured," he said.

"What?" he asked, looking at Ranma.

"It's true. Look!" he said, pointing out.

After a moment, Hanai conceded the point. "Kuso, not good. What was she thinking?" he said.

On the other side of them, Harima heard the conversation. 'Shimatta, if she loses, I have to win the next race because she sprained her ankle because of me! And then I can't show off for Tenma-chan!'

However, Harima couldn't focus as the commentator drew him back to the race.

"And now, it's 2-C's Chidori has taken the baton, 2-D closely following behind. But wait, Chidori starts to break away! It's do or die, people! Will Sawachika be able to take home gold?"

The baton was passed for the last time and Sawachika took** off** as fast as she could.

"She's holding her lead, people! Will she be able to lead 2-C to victory?"

Tenma, though, had other thoughts. "That's weird. Eri should be able to run faster than that."

Every who heard looked worried for their victory. Because of their noticeable drop in morale, 2-D had taken advantage to start cheering.

* * *

'Damn, it really hurts. I can't take it any more,' Sawachika thought. 'Just a little more, but I don't think my feet can take it. But, I can't lose!'

However, as she stepped, her foot slipped and she tripped onto the ground. She got back up and thought, 'Itai**...**Baton. Where's the baton?'

* * *

Needless to say, 2-C didn't do very well. The new scores reflected that:

2-C: 240 points

2-D: 245 points

"If we're to win," began Hanai. "We must secure first place in the race."

"We'll win, you know," said Ranma, looking like he'd run a marathon. The horse chariot had done a number on him and he wasn't sure whether he could run. However, he dispelled such thoughts. He needed to run.

* * *

"There. That should do for now," said Anesaki-sensei.

"Arigato gozaimasu," said Sawachika, sitting against a tree.

"No problem. This was minor."

"Eri-chan, I was worried. Are you alright?" said Tenma, who was standing next to her. She nodded in return.

"Hey, do you want to go see the men's relay race? It's already started," asked Tenma.

"No, I just want to sit here for a while," she said. "I'll be there in a bit. Arigato, Tenma."

Tenma and Anesaki-sensei exchanged a glance, but said nothing. "Well, I'll see you later then," said Tenma, walking away.

She settled in, but was soon drawn out of her train of thought when a jacket was draped over her shoulders. She looked up and found Harima standing ext to her.

"Ojou, I will win this...for you."

"Eh?"

"THEN I WON'T OWE YOU ANYTHING, GOT IT?"

She only replied by pulling the coat to cover her own frame and nodded without breaking eye contact.

* * *

"And the fierce competitors are now entering the arena!"

Indeed, the competitors from 2-C were entering field. Asou headed the group, Ranma and Inuyasha following behind and the rear being brought up by Hanai and Harima

"Asou-senpai!"

"Huh?" he said, turning around.

"Senpai! I'll be cheering you on! Gambatte kudasai!"

"Sara..." said Yakumo, looking on.

Asou looked horrified, especially since his friend Suga was standing next to him.

"You are too slick! When did you become friends with her?" said Suga.

"Not really," he said, looking away, blushing.

"Why do all the good things happen to you?"

However, just in front of them was Hanai, spellbound. Why? Yakumo was still looking at where Suga and Asou was.

'Yakumo is looking at me,' he thought. However, Tenma soon barged in front of her sister, saying, "Let's go, Harima! Let's go, Shadow Warrior!"

'Tenma-chan is looking at me...' he thought.

'Yakumo is...'

'Tenma is...'

Their expressions were, to say the least, relaxing.

Ranma was straining his neck, trying to find Akane. However, he couldn't find her and was left feeling a little let down.

"A-ano..."

Ranma looked up and found Yakumo in front of him.

"Gambatte kudasai, Ranma-san," she said. Thankfully, Hanai didn't see this.

Ranma blushed, his thoughts revealed partially for the girl to see. 'K-kawaii...'

Naturally, this made Yakumo blush too. However, her friend called her back to the sidelines, so Ranma was left alone, blushing his head off.

'Man...' he thought.

Akane returned at that time and ran up to Ranma and said, "Good luck, Ranma!" She kissed him on the cheek. This, in addition to Yakumo, sent him over the edge and he pretty much melted into a puddle.

Inuyasha was probably faring the best of the five. Kagome was standing next to him.

"If you win, I'll give you a big kiss," she said. This sent Inuyasha into a standstill as he looked at her.

"Umm, Kagome..."

"Well, see you later!" she said, running off.

As Fuyuki was about to take a photo, he stopped to look at his team.

"What the...? They look so carefree. It's like they don't care whether they win or lose," he commented.

Indeed, he was right. Harima and Hanai were looking so relaxed, they felt nothing around them. Ranma and Asou, uncharacteristically, were still blushing. Inuyasha was still in a standstill.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"Snap out of it!

"I knew it," said Sawachika.

"What happened to 2-C?" said the commentator. "They all look so relaxed!"

Over on the other side, Harry and Togo were observing them.

"What a bunch of good-for-nothings," said Harry.

"Women are like poison. 2-Cmay look like good opponents, but I think we've just overestimated them," continued Togo.

This triggered a reaction as they relay team turned and looked at him, very serious and looking like they wanted a fight. Harry and Togo were surprised at their opponents' fast recovery.

Hanai, being the class rep, began to speak. "Listen up. The relay race is different than any ordinary race. I'm going to teach you the sure way to win, so listen up!"

However, Imadori popped up and stepped in at this point. "The most important part of the relay is the baton. The transfer of the baton must be planned in advanced."

"Oh," said Harima.

"That's my line!" yelled Hanai. No one seemed to have heard him, however.

"You seem to know agreat deal about this, Imadori. I'm surprised."

"Hmm. I will assist the team in whatever way I can to make up for my abysmal performance in the horse chariot event," he said, deadly serious.

"That's also my line!" said Hanai. Again, no one paid much attention to him.

"Feh! Rules or not, I'll still win this easily!" yelled Inuyasha.

Way, way over in the crowd, Kagome heard him.

"Osuwari," she muttered.

*WHAM*

"Follow the rules, Inuyasha. Otherwise, we'll be disqualified," she said, making sure he heard, but no one else did.

Unfortunately, Ranma did. "Listen to her. Otherwise, you're gonna have some pretty unhappy people on you back."

"Shut up," he said, his voice muffled in the ground. "I'll do my part and you do yours."

"Harima," said Asou. "You run the last leg."

"Huh?" he said. "Idiot. Do you know who you're talking to? This will be too easy."

"Everyone, please get into positions!" They all scrambled to their starting positions.

"Ready..."

The tension was thick enough to be cut with a spoon.

*BANG*

"And the first segment of the race has begun!"

Asou ran hard and fast, but he fell just short of taking the lead in time for the second runner.

"And 2-D is passing the baton! But 2-C is also passing the baton!"

"GO!" yelled Asou. Inuyasha was running, careful to restrain his superhuman powers.

"Look at Taisho go! What speed! He easily took back the lead!"

'Heh, too easy!' he thought as he passed the baton to an impatient Ranma.

"Bout time," he said before running off.

"And the second baton pass has been made! Will Saotome keep the lead or will another team strikeout and take glorious victory away from 2-C?"

Indeed, the commentator's words did seem to jinx Ranma as 2-D caught with him.

'Oh, no you don't,' he thought, increasing the ki output to his legs. He was still tired from the horse chariot event and soon, found himself being slightly outdone by 2-D.

'Shit, can't hold on for much longer...I won't LOSE!'

He pushed himself to the very limit, maximizing his ki to the legs, except for a small amount so he can still move his arms properly.

Over at the third exchange point...

"It seems like we've already won with this distance between them. Harry and I are next. It looks like the winner has already been decided," said Togo.

"Togo. Don't underestimate us," said Hanai, looking at Ranma. He noted the ki fatigue. 'You've done well, Saotome. You won us the horse chariot event. Leave the rest to us.'

"Oh? 'Us'? So, you have respect for Harima?" said Togo. He turned around and said, "Hmm. Don't make me wait too long. I don't have the patience!"

He took the baton and the third switchover had begun. Ranma trailed by a mere second.

"Go," he gasped out, before collapsing.

'This...is for you!' thought Hanai, running off. He roared, running like a bull which had seen red.

"Hanai's yell is really loud! His face is like the devil's! Did the wind god possess him?"

(A/N: If there is one episode from School Rumble you must see, it has to this one. Hanai is absolutely nuts in this race)

* * *

'I-Impossible! Hanai is catching up!' thought Togo. 'I-I can feel the pressure building.'

'No. I must focus.'

"It's okay! You still have some distance from him!" yelled Harry at the last exchange point. "Leave it up to me. I will win!"

"Hurry and run," said a voice next to him. "Don't you know? It will look cooler catching up from behind and winning."

Harima was looking away from Hanai. Outside, he was brash and rude. However, on the inside, he couldn't help but have forgotten something.

Harry took his words to heart. "Then chase me, Japanese Samurai."

"This hairstyle is called the ochimusha samurai style." When Harry left, he began thinking to himself. 'Wait a minute. Hair? AHHHHHHH! SHIMATTA! What if my hat falls off when I'm running?'

A loud roar drew him back to the field. He saw Hanai approaching him and thought, 'Wait, wait!'

"CATCH THE BATON! KEEP THE MEN'S SPIRIT ALIVE!"

"Four-eyes, you really don't understand how others think at all." He shook his head. "Damn it all! I have to risk it!"

* * *

As Asou and Inuyasha walked up to Ranma, a stretcher was being prepared for him. He rested long enough for the race, but his muscles were stretched to their limit. Now, he was paying the price.

"Oi, you right there, girly-boy?" said Inuyasha.

"Urusei, koinu!" Ranma said half-heartedly. He hadn't felt that tired since Saffron, and that was a long time ago.

"He'll be right," said Anesaki-sensei. "But after only a long period of rest. You won't be doing anything for the next month."

"What?" said Ranma.

"I'm sorry, but that's how it is," she said, gesturing to the two boys to assist her in carrying the stretcher. "You can stay in my office until the end of the day when someone can help you home."

'Man, no training for a month. Well, at least I can still work on that thing for Herb,' he thought as he was being carried away.

* * *

"WHOA! HARIMA'S GETTING SERIOUS!"

"Harima," said Tani-sensei, crying.

"Harima-kun is so fast!" said Tenma.

"He's really good!" exclaimed Mikoto.

'He sure is working hard,' thought Eri.

"HARIMA IS IMPRESSIVE! WOW! EVEN THE OTHER CLASSES ARE CHEERING HIM ON!"

'Even if it's only by a split second, I have to finish before my hat falls off! AHHH! But the faster I run, the more my hat starts to slip off!'

We now switch to a rather serene background...

'Dear God. This is the first time I pray to you. Please...GIVE ME A MIRACLE!'

We now return back to reality.

"YEARGGH!" he roared, speeding up.

"Impossible..." said Harry.

"GOAL! HARIMA KENJI IS FIRST! 2-C HAS WON!"

His hat landed on the ground.

* * *

As the music played in the background, Tsukamoto Yakumo walked up to the nurse's office, wondering what fate had befallen one Saotome Ranma as he lay in there.

As she opened the door, she found him sitting up and concentrating, possibly meditating, but after a few moments, he abandoned the attempt.

'Damn it, why was I so reckless? Now I can barely do anything!' he thought, scolding himself before looking to the side. He was surprised to find the girl standing there. "Yakumo, shouldn't you be out there?" He motioned with his head towards the festival outside, seeing as it was the only thing he could move at the moment.

"Uh...I wanted to see how you were doing. I wanted to be sure you were alright," she said, sitting down on the chair next to the bed. "Besides," she continued in a much quieter voice. "I'd much rather be here than out there."

Ranma, though, only heard 'here' and 'out there'. 'What did she say?' "Anyway, the nurse said I can't move until someone can take me home. Until then, I'm stuck here. But, I would like second opinion. Tomorrow, I'm gonna call someone to see if he can help me."

She nodded. "I wish there was something I could do to help."

"Daijobu. You've done enough for me," he said, looking her in the eyes. "Arigato."

As she exited, he leaned back on his bed, thinking about how cute she was. Just as he was drifting off, Akane burst in. She ran up to him and wrapped him in a tight hug.

"Baka, worrying me like that." She looked up at him with tears in her eyes.

"What would I have done if you had gone and hurt yourself permanently?" Ranma took her into his arms, which he was starting to get some feeling in. He pulled her into a tight hug.

"I'll always be here for you."

He wasn't sure why it didn't quite feel true to him.

* * *

Okay from here until the Cultural Festival, it will be original material ONLY! This means you don't have to listen to me twist around material most of you might have seen before.

Also, from this point onwards, the shocks start getting bigger and bigger. So, hold onto your hats, people, because you're in for one hell of a ride!

Other than that, please comment on how I'm doing!


	14. An Interlude of sorts

Chapter 14**: **An interlude of sorts...

Disclaimer: I don't Ranma ½, Inuyasha, School Rumble or Full Metal Panic. They are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, Kobayashi Jin and Shinji Gatou.

* * *

WOW! I can't believe how long it's been since I've updated. I am SOOOO SORRY!!!!!

But, enough rambling. Let's go!

(P.S.: Another jump here: three days. During this time, the interlude between the Athletics Carnival and the Survival Game occurs. If you wanna know what happens, read the manga or watch the anime. I am not typing all of it. For those who have watched the anime, it is Season 2 from now on)

**(P.P.S.: If your the type to skip the notes at the end, PLEASE read them!)**

* * *

Ranma lay in his bed back at the Ucchan, not feeling extremely well. The day hadn't gone so good.

First, when he got back, courtesy of Harima's bike (he was extremely grateful to the man), his insides hadn't fared to well and he was feeling nauseous. However, his mind had demanded sleep and so he paid no mind to it.

The next day, he had finished dumping his lunch into the bin when Akane had managed to concoct something in the kitchen which looked like the result of a nuclear war. When he was force fed the poison, Ryoga, who was out on an errand for Ukyo, managed to pull Akane off Ranma. The poor girl profusely said that she 'babying' Ranma. Not in Ranma's, nor Ryoga's, opinion.

When Akane did leave Ranma alone, Ranma finally had the chance to call Dr. Tofu for a second opinion. He had come earlier and, in addition to Anesaki-sensei's analysis, he added in that ki manipulation was a big no-no for the next week. This meant Ranma couldn't practice the task Herb had left him.

Now Ranma faced the biggest problem in his life: how to break the news to Herb without him flattening half of Yagami on a whim. Ranma decided that the truth was the right way to go. So, Ranma pulled out the whistle and blew.

A moment later, he heard a knock on his door. "Come in," he said rather tiredly.

The door opened and Herb stood there, not looking very please. "Ranma, I thought you knew better than that," he said with barely restrained anger.

Ranma was sweating profusely. "Well, you see, it was a school event and I didn't want to lose, so I..."

Herb, thankfully, sighed. "I guess there's no helping it. How have you been with the task?"

"Well, I tried using the hint you left me, but Kachu Tenshin Amaguriken enhanced with tempered ki only tires me out. I don't how it's supposed to help me," said Ranma, thinking.

Herb looked truly surprised. "Did you honestly try to decipher my clue?"

"Huh?" Ranma looked confused.

"I said: 'Might I suggest the Amazon TECHNIQUES be your first stepping stone?' Ranma, I never thought you could be so dimwitted as to miss such a vital clue."

Ranma looked confused, but he eventually caught on. "Ah!"

"So, now you know what I am talking about."

"I need a stepping stone, though, somewhere to start," said Ranma.

"Well, it's not like your opponent's going to give you the chance to use. Perhaps you can devise a way to somehow use it by yourself?" said Herb, standing to leave.

"Well, I can try, but it's gonna be a week before I can even start using ki."

Herb sighed. "Take this. It's a special tea blend which will help with your ki. Drink one cup each day and you'll be able to manipulate ki in two day's time."

Ranma nodded and decided to let Ukyo take the sachet. The tomboy was the only person he knew that could burn water.

"I will expect you again in another week's time. Until then, Ranma," finished Herb.

"See ya, Herb." The door closed.

'Okay, so I have a viewpoint. I can't believe I never thought about the Hiryu Shoten Ha, before,' thought Ranma. He pushed all other thoughts out his mind to spin up new ideas.

* * *

Just as he was working on his second technique, one which would require more ki than his reserves could hold, there was a knock at the door. Akane came in with a tray of food.

"Hey, Ukyo thought you might be up for some food." Seeing Ranma flinch and grasp his stomach she growled out, "I didn't make it." He visibly relaxed and accepted the food. When she raised an inquiring eyebrow and nodded her head at the box of tea he lifted one of the parsley leaves from his plate (his mouth was too full of food to answer) and she nodded her head as if to say 'Soka'. In record time, Ranma's plate was empty, and he leaned back with a satisfied sigh. Akane kissed him on the forehead before taking the plate and leaving the room. He drank his cup of tea before slowly drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Ranma was a tree, a recently fallen tree. Time seemed to fly by him, days passed like seconds, and he could slowly feel the ebb and flow of time eroding him away. It started with the moss, sucking away his very life. Then came the termites, the infernal termites. They burrowed in him, eating their distinct little roads into his body until he felt like Swiss cheese and was practically screaming with pain.

* * *

With a cry Ranma woke up and was immediately gripped by pain. Obviously he had not dreamt that part. It felt like there were little termites eating him up from the inside out, here outside his dream. With all the subtlety of a brick to the face, Ranma realized what was going on. 'Damn you sensei, I'm going to kick your ass AGAIN when this is ove-' his angry rant was cut off another spasm of pain, this time in his arm, as another one of his ki pathways was mercilessly torn apart and reconstructed.

This continued throughout most of the night, with Ranma gritting his teeth to resist crying out. By the time the sun was just showing its face on the horizon, Ranma was drenched in sweat and was taking gasping breaths through his clenched teeth. His hands were clenched so tightly that his knuckles were white. The tea decided it would let Ranma go just about the time that Akane was getting up for her morning jog. With a gasp, he collapsed on his bed and passed out.

'Forget your ass: I am going to kill you...'

(A/N: Before you flame, I can explain Ranma's pain. Normally, Ranma has a titanic pain threshold, but this is magically induced pain, so his threshold is only about average)

* * *

As Akane ran off to school, she couldn't help but wonder that something was going to happen today.

She wouldn't know what had hit her.

* * *

When Ranma woke up later (a good 2 hours), he found that he was refreshed and felt completely better. Then he remembered the sore muscles as he got out of bed and fell onto the ground.

'I am such an idiot…'

So, eventually, he dragged himself back into the bed, but not without the help of a nearby table. When he was settled back into bed, he grabbed the nearest manga and was about to read when the door opened and he found Ryoga there with a breakfast tray of omelet and another cup of tea.

"Itadakimasu." Ranma ate ravenously, finishing in twenty seconds. "Done." He passed the tray back, drank (regrettably) the tea in one gulp and said, "Thanks for the food." Ryoga took the tray and walked out.

'Now, what to do for the rest of the day?' he thought to himself. 'I can't move anywhere and there's nothing else to do in here. Man, I should've taken the tea; at least that would've helped me pass the time. But, it can't be helped. Herb's getting a good kick in the ass when I'm back up.'

'So, I might as well work on my new school…'

For the few hours, a forgotten cup of water just out of Ranma's sight would be warmed and frozen several times.

* * *

'I hope Ranma gets better sometime soon,' thought Kagome, walking into the school with her friends beside her.

"Hey, Kagome," said Inuyasha. "You're spacing out again."

Kagome faced him. "Sorry, but I'm just thinking."

"About what?" he said.

She was about to reply, but a very shockingly familiar (and unwanted) call rang out through the air.

"SWEETO! WHATTA HAUL! WHATTA HAUL!"

'Kami-sama, help us all. He had to come when Ranma was down, didn't he?' thought Kagome, watching the old, perverted man run about, carrying his huge green sack of women's unmentionables.

"HAPPOSAI! YOU'RE DEAD!" yelled Ryoga, chasing after him. 'Shimatta, why is it when Ranma's out is when he appears? Now I'm stuck with babysitting the man!'

"HAH! YOU'RE A HUNDRED YEARS EARLY TO HIT ME!" he said, jumping in and out of Ryoga's attacks.

'I hate doing this,' thought Ryoga, and brandished a bra from nowhere.

"SWEETO!"

*WHAM*

"That'll teach you, you old man!"

"Ryoga!" He turned around to find Akane and Ukyo run up to him.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"What's happening?" asked Akane.

"Nothing unusual," he replied, holding up the beaten and mangled body of the Grandmaster of the Anything Goes School.

"How the hell did he get here?" asked Ukyo.

"Beats me," said Ryoga, kicking him into Leo. A star flashed where he disappeared. "And, with that nuisance out of the way…" The bell chimed. "…we're late for school," finished Ryoga.

* * *

"HARIMA!" yelled Hanai. The cry caught the attention of everyone, except for the person it was aimed it.

"OI! HARIMA!" Said monstrosity of a man finally woke up.

"It's almost time for the Cultural Festival and yet you're still skipping class!"

'Man, he's so annoying!' thought Harima as Hanai started bouncing around like a monkey. However, his musing was interrupted when he heard someone call his name.

"Harima-kun, come here for a second."

He looked around and found his cousin, Osakabe Itoko, standing outside the doorway.

"What is it, Itoko?"

"At school, you are to address me as Osakabe-sensei. This morning, I forgot to tell you that this postcard came."

She handed him the postcard and walked off, leaving the boy to his own devices. She already knew what his reaction was.

'Dankosha Co. Ltd.?'

As Harima made to read the card, he heard some yelling from behind him.

"YOU GET BACK HERE SOUSUKE, YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!"

"But, Miss Chidori, I saw a suspicious individual spying in from the school: I merely disposed of him in the quickest and easiest method possible. He was dressed in a suit!"

"AND YOU THOUGHT THAT IT WAS APPROPRIATE TO USE A GRENADE TO SCARE HIM OFF?"

As the couple ran past Harima, he found the postcard being swept out of his hands and out the window.

'Matte. That was Dankosha, right? So, doesn't that mean that the card announces if I got the manga award? If so, I NEED IT NOW!'

Harima flew around the corner, down the stairs, past 1-D, out onto the grounds and caught the card before any harm had been done.

'Phew, too close. Now, to see what it-' His rambling was cut off when he saw someone quickly dart away from the school.

Harima followed him, out to the school gate. He saw a car driving off.

'Weird…'

* * *

The day was fairly peaceful, if you could call peaceful destroying half the school. Okay, not literally, but a fair amount of property damage had been done.

It all started when the discussion for the Cultural Festival started up. Ryoga couldn't remember much, but it ended with a standoff between Takano Akira and Sagara Sousuke when they pulled out their guns and said something about a survival game. Then, the subsequent bashing began, courtesy of Chidori Kaname.

Then, Shampoo came over and started throwing out pamphlets announcing the opening of the Nekohanten in Yagami. Naturally, since her bra-less clothing attracted half of the schooling population plans were immediately made to go to the new restaurant afterwards.

When Shampoo reached 2-C, the hentai horde of the class immediately nose-bled and fainted on the spot. She left a pamphlet with each of these people, knowing that easy money was to be made from the suc- I mean customers.

However, when she realized that Ranma wasn't there, she immediately demanded to know where he was. And her first suspect: Kitchen Destroyer a.k.a. Violent Girl, a.k.a. Tendo Akane.

"What Violent Girl do to Airen?" she yelled, pointing her finger accusingly at her.

"Hey, he's at home now, seeing as he nearly killed himself at the Athletics Carnival!" she retorted.

"Aiyah, what Airen do now? Kill too-too strong god?"

Seeing as the original 2-C residents didn't know about Ranma's exploits, they ignored the girl. However, Hanai did have other things to talk about.

"Excuse me, but you can't just simply interrupt our class just advertise your shop!" he yelled. He was about to respond, but quickly ducked the bonbori thrown his way. "And you can't use weapons in class!"

The original 2-C residents sweat-dropped. 'Weapons are illegal, doofus.'

"Class rep, you can't get through to her so easily," said Akane. "She's an airheaded bimbo, you see."

"Who Kitchen Destroyer calling bimbo?" Shampoo yelled.

"YOU!"

"HAH!" she thrust her other bonbori forward. Akane simply stepped to the side, feeling overconfident once again.

'Ranma may not have been training me lately, but I'm still more than capable of taking you out, bitch!' thought Akane as she rushed forward.

Kagome was watching with simple boredom, Inuyasha and Sango doing the same. They followed the movements of both parties rather easily, seeing as they had seen Naraku in action against Ranma.

* * *

Yakumo was doing her work when the roof above her head shuddered and some dust fell down.

'I wonder what's going on up there?'

* * *

Ryoga tried to get in between the two combatants, hoping to avoid a repeat of a typical Nerimean disaster, but to no avail. Akane and Shampoo exchanged blows, knocking over desks and destroying walls whenever they saw fit.

However, by a stroke of luck, Shampoo tripped over a chair and landed on Akane, knocking them both to the ground.

They both blushed.

At least, that was the case until Akane used her position to kick her of and smash her through the roof.

'Well, that's one way to end a fight,' thought Ryoga.

* * *

Ranma got up from his bed, feeling completely refreshed after another round of violent and painful spasms. He was drenched in sweat (from both his ki manipulation and the tea), but very pleased, as he had made some progress. He thought he was healed enough so he could take a crack at using some of the attacks out in the open. Forgetting that he wasn't in Nerima, Ranma made plans to quickly go to the park that evening when everyone was asleep. However, his plans would quickly be revised when he heard of his friend's plans.

"Tadaima!" came the cry from below.

"Okaeri!" he yelled. He seemed like he sounded tired because Akane rushed up.

"What have you been doing?" she said rather accusingly.

"Resting. Why?"

"How come you're drenched in sweat?" she continued in the same tone.

"Akane, I haven't been fighting if that's what you're worried about."

"I'm waiting, Ranma."

'Well, at least she hasn't pulled out the mallet yet. But, I better say something before she does,' thought Ranma.

"Herb gave me some tea that would help the healing process. But, it has the rather unfortunate side effect of violent and painful spasms (for lack of a better word)."

"Still, you shouldn't be sweating that much," she continued, calming down.

"It just stopped. And they started about an hour ago."

"AN HOUR?"

"Meh. No pain, no gain," Ranma said, lying back down, turning away.

"Well, you better not be doing anything else," she said, getting and walking out. "Oh, that's right. There's an event going on at school, so we won't be here until late tonight."

"Cool," he said. Akane nodded and walked out, helping Ukyo open up the restaurant for the afternoon shift.

* * *

When night fell (6pm), Ranma got up, dressed and left the Ucchan, not forgetting to bring two buckets of water. He quickly walked down the street, passing the Nekohanten (which, for some reason, was very popular) and into the local park. There, he started working through practicing his ki manipulation of hot and cold.

'Okay, let's see if I can hold both at the same time,' he thought.

For most of the readers out there who don't know what Ranma is talking about (I've only told two people, excluding my beta), Ranma is basically trying to develop a way to initiate the Hiryu Shoten Ha without his opponent's cooperation. As such, Ranma has developed his first new skill in addition to the Soul of Ice. The name of this skill is the Soul of Flames. As for an explanation, well, think Soul of Ice in reverse.

Now that you all are in the loop, Ranma now wants to see if he can hold both at the same time. He positioned himself so that one bucket was on his left and one was on his right and that he was in the centre, about half a metre from both buckets.

'Okay, first, Soul of Ice!'

The buckets of water were his only visible means of detecting the temperature changes. When both buckets froze, he thought, 'Okay, now for Soul of Flames!'

When he did so, however, he only produced hot water in both buckets, which was not what he wanted. 'Okay, then. Again!' (1)

However, his result was the same. 'Damn it! What the hell? Why can't I do this? There has to be another way!' He quickly discarded trying to use both at the same time, as he knew he couldn't produce the required confliction from his core.

In his anger (and whilst still in Soul of Flames), he punched the tree behind the buckets (thankfully, not hard enough to knock it down). His attention, though, was diverted when he saw smoke coming from the tree and steam coming from the buckets.

'Smoke? Steam? With my fist?'

He knew he was onto something when he saw what his punch had done. 'Okay, again!' He punched the water in one bucket. The result was warm water.

'Shouldn't it be hotter? It had steam coming out last time. What was I doing before that I'm not doing now?'

He punched the tree again. However, no smoke came off the bark.

'What is it?'

He punched it again, with Soul of Flames in full effect. Only wisps came out.

'WHAT AM I NOT DOING?'

He punched it again. However, this time, smoke came out.

'Anger? No, wait! My punch had the energy concentrated in my fist! So, does that mean my Soul of Flames was concentrated in my hand?'

He concentrated again, this time focusing his 'Flames' into his hand. 'Here we go!' He punched the tree. This time, he thought he saw an ember and saw that more steam came from both buckets.

'Hmm, I might be onto something...'

He prepared his 'Ice' in his hand and punched the tree. Whilst no visible changes were noticed (how do you freeze a tree, anyway?), when he turned around, he saw both buckets contained small pieces of ice.

'It worked. Now, can I actually freeze the bucket of water?'

He punched the water. However, before his could even hit the surface, the whole bucket had frozen. This meant he was literally punching through the ice.

When he recovered from the shock of the ice being destroyed (and the bucket too), he turned to the remaining bucket.

'So, does this mean...'

He threw another punch into the second bucket. Upon contact, every droplet of water in the bucket evaporated.

'Okay, so I can use both in my fist. Now, can I use both at the same time?' He focused and held his fists out.

To those who could sense ki, they would've felt a refreshing blast of cool air followed by a hot summer's day. The effect was actually refreshing. It was like feeling an air conditioner in your face in the middle of the desert.

Ranma, though, couldn't see anything visibly, so he turned to the tree and punched it. The effect was immediate. The embers that Ranma could see were instantly extinguished.

'I...I did IT!' "I DID IT! ALRIGHT!" (2)

This being done, Ranma proceeded to take his attack to the next level. He spread his arms out and did exactly what he did before. Then, with a rush of adrenalin, he spiralled off.

Less than a second later, Ranma punched into the air. The result was the whirlwind with a minor side effect. Ranma was lifted into the spiral himself and he was being buffeted by the winds he caused himself.

* * *

*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*

'Damn it, we're cornered with no backup coming!' thought Ryoga, hiding behind a desk. Ukyo was next to him.

They both chose the cafe faction, as Ukyo could utilize her talents and Ryoga simply followed her. Akane, though, chose the play faction so she could have a shot at being the lead in the play.

However, their attention was diverted as they looked out the window and saw the familiar tornado rising from the ground.

'That's...Hiryu Shoten Ha! But, who's Ranma fighting?' thought Ryoga. Then he looked closer and saw Ranma himself was in the tornado. 'Ranma's attack turned against him?'

*BANG* *BANG*

Two people slumped to the ground as their lack of attention cost them.

* * *

When Ranma finally recovered from his attack, he knew instantly what he did wrong.

'Okay, better cancel out the Soul of Flames before I punch. I'm not the target.' (3)

And so, Ranma continued through the night, making new attacks for his arsenal.

* * *

Okay, for some parts of this chapter, you didn't expect. But, the last chunk of pages should've been expected.

Righto, onto the idea based behind this new school of attacks. But first, the notes:

(1): This idea wouldn't have worked as the places where the hot and cold auras originated from were directly in contact, thus the Soul of Ice being cancelled.

(2): This idea did work because the places where the aura originated from were NOT in contact. They had some clearance, albeit not a large space. However, the space was big enough to allow the conflicting auras to exist.

(3): The reason why Ranma has to cancel out his Soul of Flames is because the 'cold' aura from the Soul of Ice will be used in the attack. Hence, what's left is the Soul of Flames. And, since there is a hugely noticeable difference between hot and cold, if he attempted the manoeuvre without cancelling his Soul of Flames, he and his opponent will be sucked into the tornado. Thus, if he cancels out Soul of Flames, he will be safe, whereas his opponent will be rendered useless.

As to where I found the idea, I read about a similar school of martial arts in a Ranma story called 'Reikoku'. Translated directly as 'Relentless', Reikoku is a monster which is summoned after Happosai interrupts a girl's only ceremony. As to how, that can be left to your own imagination.

The summoner said that the Reikoku was made to go after anyone who bore the title of 'Grandmaster of the Anything Goes School of Martial Arts.' After throwing a fight, Happosai transfers the title to Ranma.

The only way to defeat Reikoku is to fight it three times. However, after each time, the monster recovers, adapting to your skills, and is incomparably powerful. Even before defeating it the first time, it puts up quite a fight, landing a decent amount of hits on Ranma before he could actually defeat it. Obviously, I'm just sugar coating it.

After finding out what it was, Ranma goes to China with Ryoga and Ukyo, both of whom have also defeated Reikoku once. Together, they train to defeat it and Ranma develops his school of martial arts based on Hiryu Shoten Ha.

The author of Reikoku developed some of the attacks used here, most notably, One Man Rising Dragon. However, with the exception of those two and Soul of Ice, the rest belong to me (Soul of Ice belonging to Rumiko Takahashi).

If you want to read Reikoku, find it in the one-shot section of . However, I assure you, it is nothing like a one-shot. It is basically the story compressed into one document.

I've named the school, but suggestions are allowed. Also, any ideas for attacks are welcome, though I have, along with my beta, compiled a database of attacks. There are 8 attacks all up: 5 normal, 1 final and two forbidden attacks. That's right: 2 forbidden attacks. I also have 6 redundant attacks which I will be showing you guys. By redundant, I mean that they were part of the original school, but were cut, for various reasons.

I will not be covering the Survival arc because it is a huge arc (it took two episodes to cover one night, for goodness sakes!). However, I will be substituting it with a scene that should, hopefully, be much more pleasant to you.

And, I'm starting another 'Name the attack' competition. Details are as follows:

This chapter featured one of the first attacks I ever thought up of. It's the one where the Ranma accidently used Hiryu Shoten Ha on himself.

This is the first attack in the competition. Please, suggestions are absolutely necessary: I've thought up of a name, but it's too complicated to translate to Japanese (I prefer Japanese names): 'One Man Rising Dragon.'

The second attack is, well, the exact reverse of the first, where instead of cancelling Soul of Flames, he cancels Soul of Ice and he punches downwards. The original name was 'One Man Descending Dragon', but, again, it's too complicated.

So, in summary, here's what's open for suggestions:

Name of the School (I won't be telling you what it is, just to gauge your reactions)

Name of 'One Man Rising Dragon'

Name of 'One Man Descending Dragon'

If anyone suggests why I'm not cutting the attacks, my reasoning is that 'One Man Rising Dragon' was initially created to overcome the barrier of using Hiryu Shoten Ha with two people. And, One Man Descending Dragon is its sister, so I am not dropping it.

Also, this same school will also be used in SOSN, so there's a bit of memorabilia for you, people!

Well, that's all the rambling from me done. Work your minds, people!


	15. Cultural Festival: Prelude

Chapter 15: Cultural Festival: Prelude

Disclaimer: I don't Ranma ½, Inuyasha, School Rumble or Full Metal Panic. They are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, Kobayashi Jin and Shinji Gatou.

* * *

Story first, rantings later. Go for it!

* * *

As Ranma danced around the park for the second time, his mind wandered of to the current issue of Dragonball Z that he was reading. He saw Son Goku utilize a power-up attack called 'Kaioken' (he is REALLY behind) and thought that if he could create an attack that had the same effect, it would be useful.

So, when he finished the spiral, cancelled the Soul of Flames and punched upwards, the result was a satisfactory Hiryu Shoten Ha.

'Okay, got that one down. Now for that power-up.'

His first thought was to use ki to boost the strength in his muscles, but he found that he was already subconsciously doing that. So, the next thought was to see if he could consciously boost the ki being used to strengthen his muscles.

However, the moment he tried to do so, he stopped immediately. He found that trying to consciously increase the ki flow into his muscles actually put strain on them: too much to be able to fight at all.

'Ouch. Maybe it's the level of ki that's the problem: I must be using too much.'

He tried again, this time adjusting his ki flow to about half of what h it was last time. He could feel the strain, but the effects were significantly decreased from the last time.

He decided to run through a kata, but found his body moved faster than his brain could keep up. He was stunned. He was working with instincts.

However, when he stopped his kata, he found his body drained of energy. So much, that he collapsed from exhaustion.

'Note to self: needs adjustment...'

"HARIMAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"(For those who have seen the anime, you should know what this is)

* * *

Tsukamoto Yakumo was walking from home from the grocery store when she saw the first of two tornados rise from the park. Curious as she was, she walked to the park and was about to enter when the second tornado manifested itself from nowhere. Slightly alarmed, she walked faster when she saw Saotome Ranma practicing a kata, his arms blurring as they moved.

She took a moment to look at his impeccable skill when he suddenly collapsed. She moved forward to wake him.

"Ranma-san, wake up!"

She shook him, trying to wake the martial artist up. However, when he groaned and snored, she decided he was merely tired.

Whilst Yakumo did have some considerable strength, Ranma was, by no means, light. She, therefore, had to phone her friend Sara for help.

When she did arrive, the pair carried Ranma (not easily) in a two-man, or woman, in this case, fireman carry.

"Yakumo, what happened?"

"I don't know, Sara. I just found him like this."

When they were about to turn into the house, Ranma began to stir.

"Ranma-san, how are you feeling?"

'Like hell.' "Alright," he replied. He attempted to stand by himself, but he found quickly that his legs gave out far too quickly for his own liking.

'This is what happens after 1 minute?'

When Ranma was finally taken into the house and laid onto a futon, Yakumo's proceeded to tend to him. She placed a cool towel on his forehead.

However, her ability to sleep anywhere at anytime got the best of her, and so she fell asleep.

No one knew how or why, but sometime during that night, Yakumo ended up in Ranma's embrace.

* * *

*The Next Morning*

Ranma's sleep laden mind attained half awake status and registered a few facts. One: he was in a bed, but he had passed out in a park. Two: There was something soft and warm in his arms. Three: Said soft and warm thing was extremely comfortable. His eyes slowly opened, and he registered a face next to him. His higher brain functions slowly came online, and he matched a name to that face.

'Yakumo…'

Unfortunately, he also registered a gender to go with said name. Let us examine his thoughts.

'Hmm… Yakumo's in the same bed as I am… it's actually kinda nice… wait, girl plus bed plus me in that bed… I haven't married recently… oh cra-'

His thoughts cut off as instinct built up by living years in Nerima near an angry, mallet wielding tomboy took over. With an unconscious burst of ki to his legs, he launched himself across the room into what the tactical part of his mind registered as the greatest possible distance from that compromising position as was possible in a small room. His mind now almost fully awake, he frantically scanned the room for angry women or swinging mallets. Now his recent memories registered and he remembered that he and Akane were on friendlier terms than in the past, and she had promised to let him stutter out an explanation before she drove him into the earth.

Yakumo, woken by Ranma's egress, sat up from her rather sprawling state and her eyes met with a sight that meant different things to different people. To his enemies, it was a sign that he was ready to play. To Ranma's friends, though few they may be, it meant that he was most likely insulted by something they had said. It was Ranma in a full defensive stance (due to wariness of mallets).

* * *

At breakfast, Ranma played with his miso soup, while mulling over the awkward bedroom scene that morning.

'Not that it wasn't nice or nothing… No BAKA! Stop it right now! You are devoted to Akane now, and if you cheat on her it will drag your honor through the mud, and Akane's! And you promised that you would never hurt her!'

Ranma was interrupted from his musings by a glass of orange juice that just 'happened' to spill all over him.

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry Ranma, let me get something to clean that up." Tenma rushed into the kitchen to get a rag. Ranma placed the now empty glass right side up on the table and let out a resigned sigh, hanging her head. Her eyes drifted to the first interesting thing in sight, the orange juice in her miso soup. Normally this wouldn't be much, but inspiration strikes at the most unexpected times ne?

'Hmm… hot and cold' He observed the mixtures swirling around each other, mixing violently, pushing and pulling the seaweed and tofu bits back and forth. The mixing liquids formed a vaguely familiar spiral like shape, one of the pieces of tofu 'conveniently' rose to the top of the spiral.

'What if it was me down there?' A technique started to form in his head, and as it grew into fruition a grin spread across his face. Yes, he had a new idea.

* * *

A new day meant another 24 hours of plain weirdness in the city of Yagami.

For one, Higurashi Kagome was not looking forward to it. She knew something was about to happen. Something big.

However, as she walked to school with her friends, she could not put her finger on what it may have been. She also had a lack of time to dwell on it the moment she stepped through the door.

"Everyone in 2-C, please report to the gymnasium."

Curious, but not surprised at the PA call, herself and her group of friends made her way to the gymnasium to face the punishment planned for her homeroom.

"Wonder what this is about?" Inuyasha said.

"I think they discovered what we did last night," replied Miroku.

"Technically, a case of self-defense should not warrant punishment,"said Sousuke. No one bothered to fix the mistake he had made (minus the paper fan applied to his head).

As they walked through the doors and took their places, they were not surprised to see everyone, with the exception of Ranma, kneeling down, looking properly abashed. Even Harima and Hanai were quite subdued.

"WHAT THE HELL?" Everyone winced at the loudness of Gouriyama-sensei's voice.

"You guys managed to work up the nerve to do a SURVIVAL GAME AT SCHOOL, AT NIGHT? WHAT THE HELL GAVE YOU THAT IDEA?"

No one managed a response. That is, except Sousuke.

"Sir, I believe there seems to be a mistake here. What happened last night was merely a case of self-defense."

"SELF-DEFENSE, MY FOOT! YOU WERE USING BB GUNS!"

"But sir-"

"SILENCE!"

"Would you just let them go? There was no harm done, after all,"said Osakabe-sensei.

"Grrr…Fine. Since it was Osakabe-sensei who found you, I'll let you all off."

The denizens of 2-C gave a collective sigh.

"BUT, SHOULD THERE EVER BE A REPEAT OF THIS, MARK MY WORDS, THERE WILL BE BLOOD!"

Everyone immediately stiffened.

"By the way, I heard this all occurred since you couldn't decide what to do for the Culture Festival. How about you just do both, dimwits?" He walked off.

Everyone sighed as they trudged out of the gymnasium.

* * *

Ranma sat in his seat in homeroom, slightly bruised and still tired, but pleased with his night's work. His efforts had meant he now had an idea as to what to do to pull off a reverse Hiryu Shoten Ha without his opponent's cooperation.

He remembered back to the morning. He still could not decipher Akane's behaviour.

_Flashback_

_Ranma had just finished breakfast at the Tsukamoto Residence. Feeling much fuller than he had anticipated, he __made__ his way back home to grab a change of clothes and a shower: he wouldn't have enough time for a bath._

_Once he __made__ it back home, he was surprised to find Akane rush out __without__ greeting him. _

"_Oi, Akane!" _

_She didn't respond. In fact, she seemed to have sped up._

'_What's wrong with her?'_

_Pushing the thought back to his mind, he ran upstairs to his room, passing Ukyo and Ryoga who were finishing cleaning up the kitchen from breakfast._

_He quickly grabbed a change of clothes and rushed into the shower, missing a key detail about his room._

_A white photo album was on the floor._

_End Flashback_

The door opened and he saw everyone in his homeroom file in, very subdued.

Otsuka and Hanai took their place at the front of the room, as they were the class leaders.

"How are we supposed to do both a play and a café? There's not enough time," said the female.

Hanai, however, looked energized. "No matter! I, Hanai Haruki, will approach the Cultural Festival Committee and ask permission for 2-C to do both a play and a café!"

Most pleased with the decision. In particular, Tenma.

"Wow, you really are smart!" she yelled.

This caught the attention of one particular person: Harima Kenji.

'That bastard, gaining Tenma-chan's recognition like that…' With that, he decides the perfect joke to pull on him.

"Miko-chaaaaaaan…"

As Hanai and Mikoto blushed madly and denied any prospect of a relationship, Ranma just sat at his desk, sleeping off his fatigue. Akane used the chance to sneak a glance at him.

'How could you, Ranma?'

* * *

When the day ended, most of 2-C remained behind to help with the construction of the sets needed for the café and play.

Harima was slaving away over piece of wood, sawing it down to size. In the background, however, Tenma and Eri were having a rather heated discussion.

"WHAT?"

"You, his favourite things, or the type of girl that he likes…I want you to ask him that. If I do it, it'd probably look too suspicious. But if it's you, it'd look natural." Tenma was asking this with a smile on her face.

You can probably garner the most likely response. For the dimwits who can't, here it is.

"Absolutely NOT!"

"Do you really dislike Harima that much?"

"I don't like him one bit! And what's all this about?"

"Well, the thing is, Yakumo really wants to know. She's a shy girl, you see…"

'I thought Yakumo liked Ranma…even though he is taken…'

"I appreciate it!" Tenma ran off.

"W-wait a sec!" She was met with silence. 'W-what should I do?'

* * *

Ranma was walking back from the local store with some ingredients. The girls knew he couldn't do anything helpful, so they decided to send him for some ingredients for some onigiri.

Ranma, clueless when it comes to things like this, could only think, 'I wonder what they're for…'

Blissfully unaware of his surroundings, he walked straight into an equally inattentive Tsukamoto Yakumo.

Ranma quickly regained his balance and grabbed the poor girl before she could fall down.

When their eyes met, they spent an eternity staring before a dog barking brought them back down to Earth.

Blushing every possible shade of red known to man, the pair returned their eyes to anywhere but the person standing next to them.

"Uhhh, Yakumo, what are you doing out here?"

"Ano…Nee-san said she'd be spending the night at the school, and she forgot her change of clothes, so…"

Ranma looked up at the girl who was staring at her feet. He noticed that her hair was tied up in away that was reminiscent to that of her sister's.

'Something doesn't look right…'

Naturally, Yakumo picked the thought up almost immediately.

As they accompanied each other back to the school, she unconsciously let her hair down to her shoulder length style.

They made the trip in complete silence, unable to get their minds off what had happened earlier.

'What was I doing? I'm supposed to be engaged to Akane, not looking at another girl!' Ranma was silently berating himself, unable to stop feeling guilty.

However, he knew that deep down (and he didn't like this part), that he wanted her to continue staring, never stopping.

'Uh, what do I do?'

When they made they finally turned into the school, Ranma glanced at her again, spotting her hair in its normal position once more.

'Much better…'

Again, Yakumo picked the thought and blushed unwittingly.

* * *

"H-hey, hige."

When she had the attention of the man, she continued, shuffling uncomfortably on the spot.

"We're doing a survey on the menus for the café. Can I ask you a few questions about you're preferences?"

She was blushing rather awkwardly as well.

"Huh? Yeah, sure."

Meanwhile, her three friends, Mikoto, Tenma and Akira were watching on.

"Smooth…"said Tenma. "…as expected from Eri-chan."

"You think so?" asked Mikoto.

Back to the conversation…

"Do you like girls that can cook? Yes or no?"

In the background, Mikoto can be seen face-faulting.

"Hey, that's got nothing to do with the menu!"

"You sure seem excited, Eri," commented Akira.

"No, as long as there's love, even cup noodles are enough," said Harima with vigor.

'And he's just answering normally…' thought Mikoto, sweat-dropping.

"Nice one, Eri-chan! I was right to pick you for this job!" commented Tenma.

"Are you for real?" said Mikoto incredulously.

Back to the conversation…

"Okay, next question."

"Shoot."

"Between a girl who's good at sports and a girl who's bad at sports, who would you prefer?"

"It doesn't matter either way. But, it would be kinda cute if she couldn't swim…"

Her mind flashbacked to the time Harima 'tried'to teach her how to swim.

'No way!' "Next question. Hige…Harima-kun, what kind of haristyle do you like on a girl?"

Facefault no. 2 comes out from Mikoto.

"That has ABSOLUTELY nothing to do with the menu!"

"You're stiffer than a rock, Eri," commented Akira once again.

Back to the conversation (for the third time)…

Harima was about to answer when he spots a familiar pair of antenna sticking out from behind a set.

'That thing over there must be Tenma-chan! I get it now! You wanted to know my preferences, didn't you? Hmph! What a silly girl. Obviously, ANYTHING that has to do with you is MY preference!'

"Hmph, isn't it obvious? A girl with her hair tied on both sides of her head!" 'Let my feelings reach her!'

There was silence in the room before Harima glanced up at the girl, since he was crouching down at the moment.

"Hey, are you listening?"

For those who haven't seen the manga or anime, Eri's blonde hair is tied in pigtails either side of her head.

'Eh? Are you serious? And you said you're not seeing anyone at the moment…Does that mean…?'

At thid point, Yakumo and Ranma walked through. However, they were so close together at this point, they may as well have announced their relationship to the world.

"Yakumo!"

Tenma bounded forward and inspected her sister's hair.

"That's too bad. It seems like Harima doesn't like you, Yakumo."

A collective silence grapsed the room.

"Wha…?" Harima was looking extremely surprised. "You thought I liked Imouto-san?"

Tenma nodded. 'Ugh, I can't believe this! I blatantly told her that I liked her and yet she STILL doesn't get it!'

"No? Then, wh-"

"TIME FOR A BATH VISIT, PEOPLE!"

Hanai barged into the room, pushing the issue out of everyone's mind but Sawachika's. However, he noticed Ranma's closeness to Yakumo.

"SAOTOME! HOW DARE YOU DEFILE YAKUMO WITH YOUR PRESENSE?"

Ranma was just finally aware of his closeness to Yakumo. Surprised, he threw the ingredients to Mikoto and ran out the door, surprised how close he had been.

'What am I doing?'

* * *

Wow, how long has it been since I have updated even a single story on this site? My apologies, guys!

Putting that behind us, I am recharged and ready to launch into writing again. Hopefully, you'll see more of this soon.

Well, apart from that, you know what to do!

HitokiriHERO


	16. Rubadubdub, Fun in the Tub

YF's AN: I apologize to all the loyal readers who wanted this sooner, I blame my laziness partially… ok mostly , for this. Anyway enjoy!

Chapter 16: Rub-a-dub-dub, Fun in the tub (A/N: NOT!)

Disclaimer: I don't own Ranma ½, Inuyasha, School Rumble or Full Metal Panic. They are owned by Rumiko Takahashi, Kobayashi Jin and Shinji Gatou.

09090909

It was a very nervous Saotome Ranma who made his way down to the public baths. He had more than his fair share of accidents in such places.

Remembering his last time in Nerima, he had hoped that a certain old man would not make an appearance.

As he travelled down the road to the local bathhouse, his thoughts lingered on the incident that had happened just moments before.

'What am I…doing? I'm supposed to love Akane. Didn't I kill Saffron for her?'

"Everyone, we're here."

It was rather strange, seeing that the rest of his male classmates had other thoughts…

'The girls are just on the other side…'

'You can't see them…'

'But, this is, without a doubt…PARADISE!'

The male residents of 2-C walked through the entrance of the bathhouse, only to find Kinugawa Ayano (I did not make this name up: it appeared on the poster of the play) sitting at the front desk.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH?"

"What? You guys didn't know? This is my house."

Suddenly, most of the boys seemed scared to do anything.

Contrary to the group, Ranma, who was so absorbed in his thoughts, stripped down and walked into the bathing pools without a second glance at the clerk.

'Ranma?' thought Ryoga.

'The heck is wrong with that idiot?' deliberated Inuyasha. However, their attention was brought back to a much more pressing matter.

"Hey, hurry up and take them off!" said Harima. This was met with several outcries of disgust.

"It's okay. I'm used to it. Not that I'd look," said the clerks-woman.

09090909

Meanwhile, the girl's side was just as busy.

"Hey, hey, Sawachika-san. Since we're here, I wanted to ask you something. Are you going out with Harima-kun?"

*SPLASH* Facefaults galore.

"N-now, wait a…" began the flustered a girl, but resistance was futile as other girls crowded around her.

"That's right!"

"Actually, I wanted to know too! I'm interested in things like that!"

"This is perfect timing, Sawachika-san! Well?"

"Ehhh?"

09090909

Akane sat in the water, contemplating what had just happened moments before. She still did not believe the truths she had just learned.

'I never knew that the Amazons could even be like that. Very strange, given their history of producing proud warriors.'

09090909

On the other side of the wall…

"Ahh, this is the life…" sighed Ryoga.

"You said it, man…" replied Miroku.

"I still think this is too much of a hassle…" said Inuyasha.

"I would have to agree with Taisho-san, Houshi-san," said Sousuke. "In war, such luxuries are not always affordable. I remember this one time in Iraq where…" At this point, he wound off into a long story.

'Here he goes again,' they all thought.

On the other side of the pool, Ranma just sat in the hot waters, confused about his life.

'How is it that I fall out of love with one girl and into it with another? Especially with one I just met not even 2 months ago?'

'Is it Akane and her mallet? Did I not trust her all along? Was the damage done so irreparably?'

'If so, why Yakumo? Why did I choose her? Why not her sister?'

Ranma shook his head. 'I'll figure it out later. For now, I have to work on Herb's exercise.'

As Ranma stepped out of the pool, behind him, Harima was preparing to wash himself off. All of us know that proper bath manners dictate that you wash yourself with cold water before you step into the bath.

Whilst Ranma used lukewarm water to get around this, the same can't be said of others around him.

*SPLASH*

Whilst Ranma may not have normally noticed the gender change, the contrasting temperature between hot and cold water was enough to spike Ranma's awareness.

"Dang it, I need to change back."

The statement was enough to draw everyone's attention to the currently female person, including a daydreaming Harima Kenji.

To use a euphemism, Ranma-chan was in her birth clothes.

As to the result, well…

*SPLURT*

…everyone nose-bled and fainted.

"YOU PERVERTS!" she yelled, jumping into the pool.

09090909

Back to a girl's problem…

"The boys are so noisy!" exclaimed Tenma.

Wrong girl…

"I think that the two of you are meant for each other!"

"Yeah, you look so natural when you're talking to him!"

The poor blond-haired girl was surrounded by chattering girls, unable to find an escape.

"So, what do you say? Is it a yes?"

'I see…So that's how everyone else sees Hige and me. Yeah, when I talk to him, I don't need to be courteous or to put on a fake smile. Honestly, I'm surprised myself.' "About Harima-kun, I-"

"RANMA NO HENTAI!"

09090909

"That PERVERT! I'LL KILL HIM! SHOWING OF HIS BODY LIKE THAT, RRGH, I'M GONNA KILL HIM!"

From one girl to another, Tendo Akane had lost the plot.

"Calm down, Akane, I'm sure he didn't mean to do it!" said Kagome, alarmed. 'Although Inuyasha is SO getting a sitting later…'

"Didn't mean too? DIDN'T MEAN TOO? DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY GUYS HE'S FLIRTED WITH TO GET FREEBIES? WHO'S TOO SAY HE'S NOT DOING SOMETHING WORSE?"

"Akane, you're blowing things out of proportion: he's not the type to-"

"YOU ARE SO DEAD, RANMA! YOU HEAR ME? DEAD!"

Whilst the girls of 2-C with boyfriends seemed to find some comfort in Akane's words, they couldn't help but agree with Kagome in the 'overkill' department.

09090909

"I hate him enough that I'd kill him."

"I thought so," said the girls in unison.

09090909

Taking completely no notice of his surroundings, Saotome Ranma, as a male once more, proceeded to leave the bathroom. However, his way was blocked by Imadori and Nishimoto Ganji, No. 2 and 1 respectively of the hentai club in the class.

"Ehh? What is it?" asked Ranma with a sinking feeling.

"We have seen heaven tonight..." started Nishimoto.

"…and we will not rest until we have gazed upon it once more!" yelled Imadori, splashing Ranma with a bucket.

Ranma, anticipating the course of action, leapt very high.

"BEHIND YOU, RANMA!" Ryoga, having seen the bucket, jumped into the air, well above the protective barrier to join Ranma, his towel coming undone. He, however, punched the bucket, which resulted on cold water pouring the pair.

09090909

"BEHIND YOU, RANMA!"

This caught the attention of the female half of the bath as they looked into the air. Their eyes caught a very interesting and arousing sight.

Ranma and Ryoga were in the air, their naked glory on display for all to see.

Whilst the girls were treated to a free peep show (and blushes all round), two girls were not impressed.

"RANMA!"

"RYOGA!"

Their respective girlfriends were not pleased that they had decided on their course of action.

The following scene cannot be shown for fear scaring little children. So, as a treat, here's an omake:

09090909

"About Harima-kun, I…I…"

"Yes, yes…"

"I…"

"Yes…"

"…l-li-"

End Omake

(A/N: Much like how Mikoto laughed, I cannot imagine Sawachika saying the words to anyone. So, that'll have to do)

09090909

When their girlfriends had finished with them, their bodies were purpled, bruised and broken (aerially, as well). However, thanks to Ranma and Ryoga's regenerative properties, they recovered quite quickly.

When the unlucky pair glanced at the wall which hid their girlfriends, they found burning auras behind it.

"Now now, no need to get fired up, right?" said Ryoga nervously.

"That's right, ther-"

*SMASH*

Not wanting to see who or what the distraction was, Ranma bolted from the bathroom.

09090909

When Kagome saw Shampoo burst through the roof (big surprise there…), she nimbly made her way to what she thought was the male side, hoping to get a free look at Ranma.

Seeing who she thought was Ranma in his female guise, she immediately ran to hug 'him'.

"AIREN!"

She did not however, expect to find a blue-haired, under-busty girl in her arms.

09090909

Ranma ran down the street, eager to leave the bathhouses which stored doom for him. He soon reached the okonomiyaki shop and nearly tore the door open, ran through and rushed into his room.

He sat down on his bed, hoping that no one saw him leave. He knew that he would be dead, anyway.

Then Ranma saw the white book on the floor.

'Oh, no, she didn't!' thought Ranma, panicky. Immediately, Ranma packed a bag and grabbed the book, hoping a training trip would save his ass.

He would come to regret that night.

09090909

Sorry about the VERY long wait, please the read the note at the very top to find out why.

However, we FINALLY get to see some progress! Thank you for bearing with me!

Thanks for reading and...

CLICK

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